Rishabh Pant, an Indian Wicketkeeper-Batsman and Delhi Capital’s captain leaves spectators awestruck after he smashes a half-century in DC’s third match against Chennai Super Kings at Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, in Visakhapatnam.
This was DC’s first win after back-to-back losses in its previous matches. The franchise led by Pant makes it to the seventh position on the point table after defeating Super Kings last night. The celebration in Delhi’s Dugout after its first win was notched down by IPL as it slammed Pant for violating the rules of the league and levied a hefty fine.
Pant’s Performance this season so far
After recuperating from the Injuries, Rishabh came back on the field after a gap of a year and a quarter to again hold back his team’s captaincy and resume his journey as a professional cricketer. Fans were seen cheering when he first stepped on the ground in the DC vs PBKS match.
Pant was ruled out because of his horrific car accident that happened on December 30, 2022. A CCTV footage was found where his car was seen colliding with the dividers after which it caught fire. Though he was successful in escaping, he was admitted to the hospital and took 15 months to again hold the bat & gloves.
After returning to the game in his first match against PBKS this season, he creamed two 4s and made 18 runs off 13 balls with a mediocre strike rate of 138.46, Pant was seen a bit struggling to get the grip back on his game. Though they lost this game, fans & commentators applauded Pant for his efforts.
On Thursday, his team played its second match against Rajasthan Royal which the latter won by 12 runs. Rishabh was seen hitting big boundaries that day bagging two 4s and one sixer.
After struggling in his first two matches, the skipper proves his ability by making his maiden half-century against CSK in match 13 of the Indian Premier League. Rishabh won the toss and elected to bat first. A great 93-run opening partnership was seen between Shaw and Warner. But it was Pant who stole the show by hitting 51 runs off 32 balls before he had to walk back after being bowled out by Matheesha Pathirana. Pant stepped out to hit four amazing 4s and blistered three 6s making his team reach a big total of 191 runs.
Dhoni’s fireworks ended the match
A short cameo of MS Dhoni was also seen in the match when he came to bat at 8th position after his team found itself in difficulty. He too smashed four 4s and three 6s, making fans go Gaga over his power to hit boundaries even at the age of 42 years, calls him ‘vintage Dhoni’.
Celebrations interrupted by fine
After the match, the skipper was levied a fine of 12 Lakh rupees after his team was found guilty of a breach of IPL’s code of conduct. The team maintained a slow over rate as a result of which Pant had to hand over a whooping 12 Lakh rupees from his match fees.
This was the second time in IPL17, that a captain was fined by IPL for maintaining a slow over rate. Shubman Gill, Captain of Gujarat Titans was found guilty in a similar case in his team’s match against the same team – CSK at Chepauk on March 26.
