It was an emotional moment for Indian cricket and Delhi Capitals fans seeing Rishabh Pant back on the field playing cricket as much as it was for himself. Surviving a life-threatening car accident and then undergoing the knife multiple times and a long period of recovery and rehab and all of that in just 14 months and coming back fully fit, Pant basically lived a lifetime in the last year and a half.
Performances will not matter much as far as Pant is concerned as everyone was excited just seeing him back and doing all the Pant things - playing audacious shots with odd bodily positions, the chatter behind the stumps and the sheer energy he brings to any team he is playing. Pant's Indian teammate Suryakumar Yadav shared a special post for him while sharing the video of him coming onto the field to bat in the Capitals' first game in IPL 2024 against Punjab Kings on Saturday, March 23 in Mullanpur.
"Moment we all have been waiting for. Inspirational movies bahut dekhi hain par iss real life story ka koi tod nai (Have watched a lot of inspirational movies but nothing comes close to a real-life story)," Surya wrote on Twitter (now X). The crowd including both Punjab Kings and Delhi supporters was up on its feet to the war Pant had fought successfully and returned to the field after doing so.
Pant after the game acknowledged that he loved being out there despite his team ending up on the losing side. "Thanku god and every one. Happy to be back in field. Yes didn’t get the result we wanted but will keep improving day by day and give 100 percent commitment and effort. Loved being on the field," Pant wrote after the game.
Losing regular wickets didn't help Delhi Capitals' cause as despite an Abishek Porel cameo at the end where he hit 25 runs off Harshal Patel's final over, the visitors fell short of a good score and the Punjab Kings chased it down without much discomfort riding on Sam Curran's half-century and Liam Livingstone's unbeaten quickfire 38.
