Rishabh Pant’s comeback has been central to the narrative surrounding Delhi Capitals’ build-up to the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
It’s also symbolic of the team attempting a comeback in quest of the elusive title after finishing ninth last season.
Head coach Ricky Ponting declared, “Anything less than that (the title) for me, I have failed. Not you guys, I have failed,” he said in the YouTube video titled ‘IPL 2024 Inaugural Speech’ put up by the franchise.
Capitals would hope for its opener Prithvi Shaw to not only be consistent, but sustained brilliance is needed from him. He might want to use the season to attempt a successful comeback to the National team. He has to better his fielding and running between the wickets.
Capitals would rely on the experience of David Warner in playing spin on typically slow tracks at Visakhapatnam. It’s home ground for the team at the start of the season and is a great fit for its spinners — Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, and Pravin Dubey.
It’s pace-bowling unit, with the exception of Anrich Nortje, isn’t as inspiring. Nortje is making his comeback from an injury layoff and might take some time to get into a fine bowling rhythm. Australian Jhye Richardson also will need to make adjustments, and thus Mukesh Kumar seems a good option when it comes to swing bowling. Ishant Sharma hasn’t been in his prime form. Capitals would hope for the retained Khaleel Ahmed to repay the faith shown in him.
The batting in general looks shaky. Capitals would sorely miss Harry Brook who’s pulled out of the season after his grandmother’s death. It would hope that batters Tristan Stubbs and Yash Dhull, and all-rounders Mitchell Marsh and Axar Patel, step up and shoulder its batting.
Pant is pivotal, of course, but as Sunil Gavaskar has pointed out, it might be tough for him to strike batting fluency. He’s garnered goodwill from even cricket followers and has thus brought some to the team as well. Hopefully, it brings good fortune to Capitals.
Impact player: Kuldeep Yadav, purely based on his recent resurgence. The wickets at the Capitals’ home ground in Vizag are expected to be slow and helpful for the spinners. So, if Kuldeep continues his fine form, it would be a big boost for his team’s hopes.
Capitals dugout: Rishabh Pant, David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Yash Dhull, Shai Hope, Swastik Chikara, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma, Jhye Richardson, Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Pravin Dubey, Rasikh Dar, Vicky Ostwal, Axar Patel, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Lalit Yadav, Mitchell Marsh, Sumit Kumar, Abishek Porel, Kumar Kushagra, Ricky Bhui.
