Delhi Capitals (DC), one of the strongest teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), are playing the 16th season without their star player Rishabh Pant. The Capitals are missing their regular skipper and ace batter, who is known for his explosive style of play and fearless captaincy. However, Pant couldn’t feature in IPL 2023 as he is still recovering from multiple injuries he sustained in a horrific car accident near Roorkee on December 30, 2022.
Due to his injuries, Pant was unable to recover in time for the entire IPL season, which was a major setback for the Delhi-based franchise. Nevertheless, the team did not forget to honour their missing player in their opening game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Ekana Stadium on Saturday, April 1. Pant’s jersey was seen hanging in DC’s dugout, which was a touching tribute to the player’s absence.
Always in our dugout. Always in our team ❤️💙
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals)
The team’s gesture was highly appreciated by cricket fans all over the world, and it soon became viral on social media. Fans took to Twitter to express their gratitude and respect for DC for remembering their star player. Many fans wished Pant a speedy recovery and hoped to see him back on the field soon.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
A lovely picture – Rishabh Pant jersey in the dugout.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra)
Jersey of Rishabh Pant in Delhi dugout.
A great gesture. 👏
JERSEY NO 17 ❤🤲
— Chiyaan_Freak🕊️ (@ChiyaanFreak)
//twitt𒆙er.com/outofthebox_19/status/♍1642177764773236737
What a picture – Rishabh Pant's jersey in Delhi Capitals' dugout.
Great gesture by Delhi Capitals.
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh)
Jersey of Rishabh Pant in Delhi dugout.
A great gesture. 👏
— Rajiv Agarwal (@RajivAg22)
What a wonderful gesture by the Delhi Capitals to have Rishabh Pant's jersey displayed above their dugout!
— P C Mohan (@PCMohanMP)
Excellent gesture from Delhi Capitals to have Rishabh Pant's jersey at the dugout ❤️
The 13th man of Delhi Capitals
— Vinesh Prabhu (@vlp1994)
Delhi💛 Capitals misses Rishabh Pant, hangs jersey in dugout
| Rishabh Pant | |
— Himanshu Gupta (@Himansh89652837)
Delhi Capitals you have my heart 💜
That 1🍌7 number Jersey 👌 Rishabh Pant you 💫are being missed.— Priyanka Hemanti Bhatt (@iPriyankaBhatt)
The Delhi Capitals dugout has Rishabh Pant's jersey above. Great gesture by the team, Ponting keeping the promise.
— Anuj Mishra (@anujmishra003)
Taking about the match, LSG posted a daunting total of 194 runs in 20 overs for DC to chase, thanks to the superb batting display by West Indies batter Kyle Mayers (73) and Nicholas Pooran (36), who smashed the ball to all corners of the groun෴d. Tﷺhe run rate of LSG was an impressive 9.7 RPO.
In response, DC struggled to keep up with the required run rate, and wickets fell at regular intervals. LSG pacer Mark Wood was the pick of the bowlers, taking five wickets, while Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi grabbed two scalps each. For DC, only David Warner scored over 50 runs, while Rilee Rossouw contributed with 30 off 20 balls. At last, DC managed to put just 143/9 in their stipulated 20 overs and lost to the contest by 50 runs.
