Delhi Capitals (DC) will dearly miss their star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 which is set to commence from March 31. Pant suffered a brutal car accident last December and is still recovering from it, hence, won't be able to feature in the sixteenth edition of the glitzy league. In Pant's absence, David Warner has been handed an onus to lead Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2023.
Meanwhile, DC's coach Ricky Ponting has come up with a unique plan to pay Pant a perfect tribute and make him participate in IPL in a different way. In an event in Delhi on March 24 (Friday), Ponting said Pant is the heart and soul of the franchise and revealed that the team management is considering wearing his jersey number on their shirts or caps.
"In an ideal world for me, he’d be sitting next to me in the dugout every match. But if that’s not possible, we’d like to make him part of the team in ways possible. We can have his number on our shirts or on caps. Just to make it clear that he’s our leader, even if he’s not with us,” Ponting said.
“We haven’t decided that yet. Sarfaraz (Khan) has joined us and we’ll look at the practice games ahead to decide that. That’s one big hole Rishabh leaves behind. With the impact player rule coming in, we can use a number of ways,” former Australia skipper added.
Despite Pant's absence, DC has yet to decide on a first-choice keeper to replace him. DC will open their campaign against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow in their opening game on April 1.
Ponting also made a tall claim about India's batting sensation Prithvi Shaw. While speaking about Prithvi's preparation about the IPL 2023 Ponting claimed that the sixteenth edition of the glitzy league will be his biggest season ever.
“He has worked hard, trained better than I have ever seen. He is a better physical shape than I have seen him before. I spoke with him about his attitude, how he is working and the way things are going,” Ponting said on Friday during a promotional event at a city hotel.
“I honestly feel this is going to be his biggest season ever in the IPL. He just has that different look in his eyes this year and he probably hungry than ever. Yes, its true he has some success for us at Delhi Capitals and with the level of talent he has got, I think everyone will get to see the real Prithvi Shaw this year,” added the former Australian skipper.
IPL 2023 Delhi Capitals Squad
Rishabh Pant (c), David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Ripal Patel, Rovman Powell, Sarfaraz Khan, Yash Dhull, Mitchell Marsh, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Khaleel Ahmed, Lungi Ngidi, Mustafizur Rahman, Aman Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Vicky Ostwal, Ishant Sharma, Phil Salt, Mukesh Kumar, Manish Pandey, Rilee Rossouw.
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