Rishabh Pant leads DC: Why saddle the happiest kid on the playground with responsibility?

IPL 2021: If his first taste of leadership in the IPL only adds to his joy, then it cannot be too bad a thing

There is certainly more than just a hint of sadism in seeking out the happiest kid on the playground and saddling him with the dourest of responsibilities. Leadership has, in the past, reduced the long and bleached mane of MS Dhoni into salt-and-pepper bristles and even turned the cherubic Sachin Tendulkar into a French beard-donning brood. What will captaincy do to the perma-giggle of Rishabh Pant? Not only has he been tasked with the reins of an IPL side at 23, that side happens to be Delhi Capitals – a team that hasn’t won the tournament and only recently made their maiden final.

Rishabh Pant to lead Delhi Capitals in IPL 2021 (Twitter)

Few in the long history of this sport has enjoyed his cricket more than wicketkeeper Pant, who is either squealing in delight or gurgling with anticipation or howling in mock horror (for missed run outs, mainly) or singing Bhojpuri versions of Spiderman songs or clapping his large rubber gloves while gushing Tamil praises at R Ashwin (“vera level vera level Ashley!”) or simply keeping Rohit Sharma entertained in the slip cordon with his constant supply of theatrics. It will be a thing of pity if the burden of leadership curbs Pant’s exuberance behind the stumps. But the real shame will be if captaincy limits his devil-may-care attitude when stood in front of the stumps.

It's not like Delhi Capitals were out of options in Shreyas Iyer’s season-long absence either. In new recruit Steve Smith they have a man who has led Rising Pune Supergiant all the way to the final in a season where he was forced to take over midway from Dhoni, no less. Then there are the old hands in Ajinkya Rahane (who has led Rajasthan Royals) and R Ashwin (who has the experience of captaining Kings XI Punjab and oozes with strategy and leadership vibes). But for better or worse, they went with Pant, who was anointed captain of Delhi’s first-class side in the 2017-18 season and ended up leading them all the way to the Ranji Trophy final, only to have the proverbial armband snatched away a week later.

At least for now, however, Pant is bound to view his new role with a sense of achievement. When the previous IPL ended in late 2020, his career was in shambles. His lack of runs saw him dropped from both the short format squads to Australia and Wriddhiman Saha squeezed his way into the eleven for the first Test in Adelaide too. But in the space of just four months and before the 2021 edition of the IPL, Pant turned it all around. And of all of India’s success against Australia and England across all three formats, the return of Pant is perhaps the most satisfying for the health of Indian cricket. If his first taste of leadership in the IPL only adds to his joy, then it cannot be too bad a thing.