DC will next take on the Rajasthan Royals at home on Thursday (March 28).
Delhi Capitals (DC) were boosted by the return of their skipper Rishabh Pant following his car accident but they couldn’t make the most of it, losing their Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) opener against the Punjab Kings (PBKS).
Following the loss, DC head coach Ricky Ponting was seen giving a very captivating and motivating speech in the dressing room.
Ponting sounded upbeat while addressing the players, highlighting several positives like the opening partnership, Shai Hope’s batting, Porel’s incredible death overs flourish and Kuldeep Yadav’s bowling spell.
However, the Aussie was also mindful to point out the mistakes as well, especially the batting in the middle overs and how DC was chasing the game for the most part of it.
The franchise posted a video of the same on their official social channels.
𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴. 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 🤝#YehHaiNayiDilli #IPL2024 #PBKSvDC pic.twitter.com/4tlGmDE60w
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 24, 2024
On the other hand, DC skipper Rishabh Pant looks to be settling in comfortably. Apart from taking over captaincy duties, he also donned the wicketkeeping gloves, dismissing all the anticipation surrounding his fitness.
Returning to competitive cricket after a hiatus of 15 months, Pant however had a mellow outing with the bat. Pant managed to score just 18 runs from 13 balls. Although he struck two boundaries, the 26-year-old Pant couldn’t make a remarkable return with the bat but he made up with his glovework with a smart stumping of PBKS vice-captain Jitesh Sharma.
DC will hope that their skipper can slowly work his way back to peak form and resurrect the sinking ship since last year where they won only 5 out of 14 games. The Rishabh Pant-led side will next take on the Rajasthan Royals in their own backyard on Thursday (March 28).
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