Rishabh Pant finally made his much-anticipated return to professional cricket on Saturday (Mar 23) after 453 days, putting behind a horrible last 14 months. Pant, who was leading Delhi Capitals in their first game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season attracted the attention of the cricketing fraternity on Saturday as he took the field for the first time since suffering the near-fatal car accident in December 2022. He was leading the side against Punjab Kings in the newly constructed stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh.

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!

THE ENTRY OF RISHABH PANT IN CRICKET FIELD AFTER 454 DAYS…!!!!!

The Whole stadium giving standing ovation to him – Welcome back, Pant.🙌🔥pic.twitter.com/iACuJ9ggdW

— Tanuj (@ImTanujSingh) March 23, 2024

Rishabh Pant returns

ALSO READ | IPL 2024: Pat Cummins all ready for SRH debut against compatriot Mitchell Starc, says ‘it’s going to be weird’

Having missed the ODI World Cup, World Test Championship (WTC) and IPL 2023, Rishabh Pant was facing a race against time to be fit for the latest season. However, a speedy recovery coupled with great determination saw the Delhi Capitals man make a swift return to the IPL. Pant was greeted with a great ovation from the crowd in Mullanpur while opposition players also welcomed the wicketkeeper-batter back to the fold.

He came into bat when David Warner was judged out by the third umpire as PBKS used the DRS on the final ball of the eighth over. His stay however did not last long as he was dismissed by Harshal Patel on the fourth ball of the 13th over.

At the time of writing, Delhi Capitals were 141/7 in 18 overs as they struggled to capitalise after a decent start to their innings. David Warner departed for 29 while Mitchell Marsh made 20 off 12 before the duo was dismissed. Shai Hope was the top scorer with 33 while Axar Patel contributed 21 with the bat. Harshal Patel was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 22/3 in 3 overs.

Delhi Capitals Playing XI

David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Ricky Bhui, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma

Punjab Kings Playing XI

Shikhar Dhawan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

You can now write for Baazigarnews.com and be a part of the Baazigar family. Share your stories and opinions with us here.