Pant's Phoenix-like Return Ignites DC's Quest for Redemption

Rishabh Pant will finally be seen back in action. The wicket keeper batter’s journey from the car wreckage to Ind T20 League personifies a considerable victory for life that cricket can make sense of, but the sport will take what it can. The game has one of its finest keeper batters return to the fold and the rights to feature him for the very first time since the freak injury is his Ind T20 League franchise Delhi. 

Pant’s comeback is more or less the headline story for Delhi this season, who would be eyeing their own redemptive arc following a quite disappointing last season. They would ultimately be least bothered by how many runs Pant scores or if-and-when he dons the gloves. Him leading them  out on the field should be sufficient for a team that looked clueless without him in 2023. 

In the previous cycle, their rankings were as follows: 2022 - 5th place, and 2023 - 9th place. 

During this cycle, Delhi made numerous key additions to bolster their roster. They bought Tristan Stubbs, Jhye Richardson, Kumar Kushagra and Jake Fraser McGurk who was roped in as a replacement for Lungi Ngidi. 

Meanwhile, they also made a few harsh calls by letting go few of their key players such as Riless Rossouw, Rovman Powell, Chetan Sarkariya, Manish Pandey, Phil Salt, Sarfaraz Khan and Mustafizur Rahman. 

Complete Squad 2024: Rishabh Pant (c), David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Yash Dhull, Abishek Porel, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Mitchell Marsh, Pravin Dubey, Vicky Ostwal, Anrich Nortje, Kuldeep Yadav, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Tristan Stubbs, Ricky Bhui, Kumar Kushagra, Rasikh Dar, Jhye Richardson, Sumit Kumar, Swastik Chikara, Shai Hope

Where can they improve?

In Ind T20 League 2023, Delhi batters hit a combined 67 sixes across the 14 matches and that too in a season which witnessed a record number of maximums (1124). 7.6 sixes were hit per innings on an average but Delhi could only manage to hit 4.8 sixes per innings.

One to keep an eye on

Keep a keen eye on hard hitting wicket keeper batter Kumar Kushagra. Based out of Jharkhand, Kushagra is known for his ability to clear the fence at will. Three teams went after him at the auction but it was Delhi who eventually bought him for a whopping INR 7.2 crore. He could prove handy especially behind the wickets (wk) considering Delhi would want to ease Pant cricket and not straightaway burden him with wicket keeping duties. 

Injuries and availability

Harry Brook, who was one of Delhi’s costliest buys in the auction, will no longer be available for the entire season. The youngster recently lost his grandmother and missed the five-Test tour of India as a result, and he wishes to steer away from cricket citing personal reasons. 

Lungi Ngidi ruled out of complete season due to lower back injury

There is no confirmation on Anrich Nortje’s arrival date as he awaits the birth of his child, but even otherwise, there are uncertainties circling his return to the tournament. After spending a long time on the sidelines, the speedster was seen again back in action in CSA’s domestic T20 league. So, the management will not look to hasten his integration to the playing XI risking his fitness.   

Possible Playing XI and Potential Impact Player Pick

Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (c), Tristan Stubbs (wk), Kumar Kushagra, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Anrich Nortje

Khaleel Ahmed in place of Prithvi Shaw is our Impact Player pick when Delhi are bowling.