Delhi Capitals (DC) paid tribute to their skipper Rishabh Pant who is still recovering from injuries he suffered in the horrific car accident on December 30 morning last year. Players hung Pant’s jersey in the dugout during their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 campaign opener against KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants.
The photo of Pant’s jersey in DC’s dugout has gone viral on social media.
Earlier in the day, DC asked their fans to predict playing XI for LSG encounter. Pant who is currently undergoing rehabilitation replied the tweet saying, 'I am 13 th player coz of impact rule otherwise would have been 12 th man'.
In Pant's absence, Sarfaraz Khan donned the gloves at Ekana Stadium, Lucknow. In the third over, he conceded a bye when he misjudged a delivery from left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed. Later in the game, he took Marcus Stoinis' catch off Ahmed's bowling.
DC coach Ricky Ponting last week had talked about the unique plan to pay Pant a perfect tribute and make his participate in IPL.
"I only this morning, on the way to this gathering here, spoke to our manager about little ways that we might be able to actually include him without him actually physically being there, you know? His number might be on each of our playing shirts or his number might be on our caps, just so you know, for the players to understand that he's the heart and soul of the Delhi Capitals, he's a Delhi boy, he's our leader but he's not with us," Ponting said.
"So I want to be able to recognize as a team just how much we are thinking about him and how much we would love to have him part of his group again. So, we'll come up with some really nice way for the fans as well to be able to recognize how much he is a part of us and how much we are going to miss him this season," he stated.
"But as I've said, in an ideal world for me, and I said this couple of weeks ago, he's going to be sitting next to me in the dugout for every home game this season. Now, if that can work great, but if it can't, as I said, we'll find other ways to make sure he is a part of what we are doing," the former Australian captain added.
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