New Delhi: Rishabh Pant will be declared fit to play in the Indian Premier League very soon, according to BCCI secretary Jay Shah. Pant, who suffered a near-fatal car accident on December 30, 2022, has been out of cricket since then but the Delhi Capitals wicketkeeper-batter looks all set for a grand return to the field in the upcoming season that starts later this month on March 22. Although Delhi Capitals are yet to comment on Pant’s return officily, but Shah stated that a positive update from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) is coming soon.
“He is batting well, he is keeping well. We will declare him fit very soon,” Shah told reporters in Dharamsala after India’s 4-1 Test series win over England. The accident had left Pant with a severe right knee injury that required ligament reconstruction surgery besides a fractured wrist and ankle. But he has done well to bounce back.
Earlier, Delhi Capitals’ head coach Ricky Ponting had already stated that he would be participating in the league. If Pant happens to participate in IPL 2024, he will be playing as a pure batter. The wicketkeepeing role will be given to someone else, most probably to Bengal lad Avishek Porel, who kept wickets in IPL 2023.
Shah also sounded hopeful of Pant’s availability in the upcoming T20 World Cup. “If he can play the T20 World Cup for us, that will be a big thing for us. He is a big asset for us. “If he can keep, he can play the World Cup. Let’s see how he does in the IPL,” said Shah.
Ponting, in an ICC Review episode, stated he is expecting Pant to lead Delhi Capitals from the start, provided he is fit enough to play. “It’s a big decision we’ll have to make because if he is fit, you’d think he’d step straight back into that captaincy role,” Ponting said.
“If he’s not entirely fit and we have to use him in a slightly different role, then we’ve got some decisions to make there.” The former Australia captain informed that Pant had played some practice games at the NCA in the last couple of weeks which was encouraging from Delhi Capitals’ point of view.
Delhi Capitals will be opening their IPL 2024 campaign against the Punjab Kings in Mohali on March 23. “I know he’s worked incredibly hard on his body and his fitness to get back to the level that he’s at now. He’s kept in one of those games, he’s fielded in these games and the batting hasn’t seemingly been an issue for him so far,” added the two-time World Cup-winning Australian skipper.
“We’ve obviously had worries and concerns that he might not have made it in time to be ready for the IPL this year. I mean, he was a huge loss for us last year and what he went through, we can’t even begin to describe what he’s been through the last 12 or 14 months,” he added.