Rishabh Pant rues Ishant Sharma's injury after DC's loss against PBKS

Rishabh Pant has rued Ishant Sharma’s unfortunate injury after Delhi Capitals’ loss to Punjab Kings in the second game of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024).

The veteran pacer clean bowled Shikhar Dhawan in his second over and also ran out Jonny Bairstow with a remarkable effort in his follow-through before suffering the injury that brought a premature end to his participation in the game. In the sixth over of PBKS’ innings, he twisted his ankle while fielding and had to hobble off the field.

With Ishant not returning to the field for the remainder of the game, DC found themselves a bowler short and paid a big price for it. In Ishant’s absence, Rishabh Pant had to rely on Sumit Kumar who could not defend six runs in the final over. After Mitchell Marsh conceded 52 runs in his four overs, things only became tougher for DC.

“I think Ishant’s injury was clearly evident in the field, we were already one bowler short because of our batting,” said Rishabh Pant after the loss.

“Abhishek Porel did well to give us those extra runs, but we were always one bowler short. The boys did well to drag us back into the match at various stages,” he added.

DC were reeling at 138 for 7 in the 18th over before Abhishek Porel’s knock helped them post 174 for 9. He smashed three fours and two sixes in the final over and remained unbeaten on 32 off 10 balls. His efforts, however, went in vain as PBKS chased down the total with four balls remaining.

Rishabh Pant on his comeback:

Rishabh Pant also spoke about his comeback. The wicketkeeper-batsman played his first competitive game since December 2022 and scored 18 runs off 13 balls. The India star admitted that there was a bit of tension but he enjoyed himself. He also credited PBKS for the win.

“Was pretty nervous. There was a bit of tension, but I started to enjoy myself. No excuses, having a bowler short was never good, but credit to PKBS for the way they played. He’s pretty new (on Porel), 3rd or 4th game (for him), the way he batted was very special, looking forward to more from him as the season moves forward,” said Rishabh Pant.