Pant is set to return opening game in the IPL

Rishabh Pant will start IPL 2024 as Delhi Capitals’ captain but will not keep wicket in the first half of the season, Capitals were expecting South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje to be fit to play from their opening game, against Punjab Kings on March 23.

Capitals think-tank, led by the team director Sourav Ganguly and head coach Ricky Ponting, was confident about Pant starting the IPL, subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI which is imminent.

The IPL will mark Pant’s return to competitive cricket since the Test series in Bangladesh in December 2022. After his horrific car crash on December 30, 2022, Pant has worked hard to make a remarkable recovery post successful surgeries on three major knee ligaments in his right leg. Having told his doctors that he would shave at least six months off their prescribed time of recovery, Pant played practice matches in Bengaluru this week, which were organized by the National Cricket Academy.

On Tuesday, Pant also posted a video on his Instagram doing some wicketkeeping and mobility drills, which have become part of his lower-body conditioning over the past six weeks. On Wednesday, he batted and fielded in a 20-over match, which comprised a series of match-simulation exercises. The game was overseen by the BCCI medical staff. There were no visible concerns. Pant is expected to play at least a few more such games before joining the Capitals. Once the BCCI clearance comes, he will join the side for a preparatory camp in Visakhapatnam, where the team will also play two home matches.

With the second half of WPL 2024 – comprising 11 games including the playoffs – set to be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the Capitals men’s team had to shift their home base for the early part of the IPL to ensure they didn’t start on tried pitches. In the 21-match IPL schedule released on Thursday, Capitals are scheduled to play two home and three away matches. Jindal confirmed the team would return to Delhi for their remaining five home games.

Nortje, who has been out of action for a while because of injuries, is good to go and is also expected to join the camp in Visakhapatnam, Jindal said. Nortje had recovered from a groin injury to play ten matches for the side in the 2023 season before heading home for personal reasons. He was retained by the franchise ahead of the 2024 auction.

While he played the inaugural season of Major League Cricket in the USA, he pulled out of the ODI series at home against Australia in September following a suspected stress fracture in the back and was eventually ruled out of the ODI World Cup as well. Doubts about his availability for IPL persisted after he did not play the SA20 either.

Bowler Jhye Richardson is unlikely to be fit for the initial part of the tournament as he recovers from a side strain that had ruled him out of the latter half of the BBL as well as the home ODI series against West Indies. Richardson was bought by Capitals at the mini-auction in December for INR 5 crore (US$ 602,000 approx).

Delhi was also expecting big things from David Warner, an IPL legend, who is likely to feature for one Last season, the Capitals participated in a mega auction in 2025. The team is excited to have England power hitter Harry Brook play a significant role in the lower order. The Capitals bought several uncapped Indian players at the auction, who were scouted and recommended by Ganguly. Among these players are Kumar Kushagra, a wicketkeeper-batter from Jharkhand, Sumit Kumar, an allrounder from Haryana, and Ricky Bhui, a batter from Madhya Pradesh who is currently the leading run-scorer in the Ranji Trophy.Delhi is expecting brilliant performance from all of them .