The 7th match of the ongoing IPL 2023 saw Delhi Capitals (DC) playing their first home game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi facing off against Gujarat Titans (GT) on April 4. The match was also special for the DC team and fans as regular captain Rishabh Pant was seen in attendance as well.
Pant has been out of cricket since December last year when he met with a serious car accident on route to his hometown in Uttarakhand from Delhi on December 30. He initially received some treatment at a medical facility in Dehradun.
He was then airlifted at the behest of BCCI to Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital where he underwent knee surgery and since then he has been rehabbing and recovering at home.
However, the injury has reportedly ruled him out of cricket for a year, meaning that not only is he missing the ongoing IPL 2023 and had missed the Australia series at home, but he will also miss the World Test Championship final and the ODI World Cup 2023 as well.
The crowd went crazy in Kotla as soon as visuals of Rishabh Pant entering the balcony of the stadium appeared on the big screen. He was dressed for comfort and was seen using a crutch for support while walking.
He visited the Delhi Capitals dressing room as well and had a chat with coach Ricky Ponting, shared laughter with vice-captain Akshar Patel and Ishant Sharma, and also had a few words with stand-in captain David Warner.
DC shared the video of his visit on social media with the caption reading: “Core memory created. #QilaKotla homecoming made special after #RP17 met with our boys in the dressing room after #DCvGT!”
Meanwhile, he was also visited by members of Gujarat Titans and was hugged by GT coach Ashish Nehra and clicked a photo with Shubman Gill as well.
DC shared a photo of the two young cricketers with the caption: “A ????????-???????????????? union that we have all been waiting for”
