Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has confirmed that star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is in good shape and will be part of the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. Pant arrived in Kolkata on Thursday to join the team's training camp, but he will not train with the rest of the team during this early phase of preparations.
The Delhi Capitals are one of the few teams to have already started their training camps. A few of the players who are available for the camp have begun training at the Jadavpur University second Campus Cricket Association of Bengal ground in Saltlake, Kolkata. Pant will be in the city until November 11, according to Ganguly.
Pant has been captain of the Delhi Capitals since the start of the 2021 IPL season, but he was unable to play in the 2023 IPL due to injuries sustained in a serious road accident in December previous year.
"Rishabh Pant is in good shape. He will play from next season. He will not practice now. He is here till 11th November. We had a discussion about the team with Pant as he is the captain of the team, considering the upcoming auctions," DC's director of cricket Ganguly told India Today in an exclusive interaction.
The 26-year-old looked in good shape as he took a walk around the ground in visuals from the Delhi Capitals training camp in Kolkata. The wicketkeeper-batter was not wearing any knee straps, a sign that he is on the road to full fitness after suffering multiple injuries in a car accident last year.
Pant is expected to return to competitive action early next year, and there is speculation that he could make his international comeback during a home Test series against England in early 2024.
The road accident sidelined Rishabh Pant from cricketing action for a long time. His injuries forced him to miss the IPL, the World Test Championship Final, the Asia Cup, the ODI World Cup at home, and other bilateral series. He underwent surgery to treat his multiple injuries.
Despite these setbacks, Pant remained determined to recover from his injuries and return to the field. He referred to his accident as his "second birth" and kept his fans updated about his recovery process on social media. He also underwent rehabilitation stints at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
Rishabh Pant visited the Lord Balaji Temple in Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh, in November 2023, one of his few public appearances during his recovery from injury.
Pant is one of the most accomplished wicketkeeper-batters in the IPL, with 2838 runs in 98 matches. However, his Delhi Capitals team had a dismal season in 2023, winning just five of their 14 matches.
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