Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar had some much-needed words of motivation for Rishabh Pant after the latter suffered a tough outing as captain during the match between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday (April 20 ).
Barring the toss, nothing went right for the Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals team in the game. The keeper-batsman’s decision to bowl first turned out to be a nightmare as SRH’s in-form openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma came out firing on all cylinders.
They went for the big shots early on as SRH raced to 125 runs in just six overs. Head completed a 16-ball fifty and scored 89 runs off just 32 balls with the help of 11 fours and six sixes. Sharma, on the other hand, scored 46 runs off just 12 balls. An unbeaten half-century from Shahbaz Ahmed took SRH to a mammoth 266/7, their third total of 260+ in IPL 2024.
Sunil Gavaskar encourages Rishabh Pant:
In response, DC were bowled out for 199 runs in the final of the innings. A record 15-ball fifty gave DC a ray of hope but the middle and lower order batsmen failed to capitalize on it. Rishabh Pant himself faced 35 deliveries but hardly caused any problem for SRH as he managed to score just 44 runs.
He struggled to play big shots during his hit as DC suffered its fifth loss this season. After the big loss, the DC captain looked absolutely dejected and Sunil Gavaskar decided to cheer him up. With the wicketkeeper-batsman enduring such a tough night on his emotional return home, Gavaskar took a moment to lift his spirits.
“I never want you to lower your head, there are many games, so always keep a smile.” Gavaskar told Pant.
The India goalkeeper was moved by Gavaskar’s motivating words and gave a heartwarming reply, saying: “I’ll do my best, sir.”
A good return for Rishabh Pant:
While Rishabh Pant failed to make an impact as captain and batsman against SRH on Saturday, he has made a brilliant return to action. The wicketkeeper-batsman hit the ground running in IPL 2024 after being sidelined for over a year while recovering from the horrific car accident.
He is currently DC’s leading run-scorer in IPL 2024. In eight games so far, the left-hander has scored 254 runs with the help of two half-centuries.