Rishabh Pant made his much-awaited return to the Indian Premier League (IPL) but was dismissed after scoring just 18 runs off 13 balls. During the IPL 2024 match between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, Pant came out to bat at No. 4 but his stay at the crease was not long. This was the first official match for Pant after he got injured in a life-threatening car accident in 2022 but the left-hander looked in good touch with a couple of boundaries. However, he ended up miscuing a slower delivery from Harshal Patel and Jonny Bairstow made no mistake in completing an easy catch at backward point.
Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and opted to field against Delhi Capitals.
Rishabh Pant finally made his much-awaited return ending the 14-month wait. Both teams have enough firepower to push each other to their limits.
Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan said after winning the toss, "We are gonna field first. It is a new pitch. We will look to come up with new strategies. We have made some changes. We are used to this ground now. We had a practice match. We will look for some luck on this venue. Our four foreign players are Bairstow, Livingstone, Curran and Rabada."
Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant during the toss said, "We would have batted first. The wicket looks a little on the slower side. Really emotional time for me. Just want to enjoy the moment. Not thinking much. I think not worried about last season. Really exciting times. We have been preparing well. Four overseas batters for us. Hope, Marsh, Warner, Stubbs."
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan(c), Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Shashank Singh
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ricky Bhui, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma.
(With ANI inputs)