Capitals don’t have a lot of time left to make a call regarding Rishabh Pant, their original skipper ahead of the 2024 edition of the IPL. If he’s fit, does he resume captaincy or David Warner continues as the skipper?
And, if he plays only a few matches, how do Delhi Capitals play around with that, who will be the wicketkeeper then? The Capitals have a few questions to answer in the next 10 days or so before they kick off their campaign against the Punjab Kings in Mohali on Saturday, March 23.
Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting hoped that Pant would get fit mentioning that the wicketkeeper batter played a few practice games in the last couple of weeks, which is an encouraging sign for the side. However, at this moment Ponting too wasn’t sure regarding the level of Pant’s fitness and how and in what ways the wicketkeeper batter would be able to take part in the tournament.
Speaking on the ICC Review, Ponting said, “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. 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.
“He’s actually played some practice matches over the last couple of weeks, which has been really encouraging for us,” Ponting said. “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,” the former Australian skipper further added.