Capitals captain Rishabh Pant received a resounding welcome at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
The DC captain was making his comeback to competitive cricket during his team’s IPL match against Punjab Kings.
Pant’s miraculous escape from a life-threatening car crash in December 2022 has now become a tale of perseverance after the big-hitting wicketkeeper-batter made a faster than expected recovery to be back in action.
Pant walked out to bat ahead of the 8th over of the DC innings following the dismissal of teammate David Warner. As he emerged from the DC dugout, the crowd present inside the stadium stood on its feet and welcomed him with a thunderous ovation. The giant electronic scoreboard of the stadium flashed the message “Guess who’s back! ”
“Jittery, nervous, excited…all of it, but at the same time, just happy, being able to come back to professional cricket. I’m just looking forward to playing my first game tomorrow,” Pant had said ahead of his team’s first match of the season.
The 26-year-old’s last competitive match was a Test match against Bangladesh in Mirpur in December 2022.