Rishabh Pant led Delhi Capitals to their second-straight win of the ongoing IPL 2024 season, on Wednesday in Ahmedabad. Chasing 90, DC eased to 92/4 in 8.5 overs, as Pant (16*) and Sumit Kumar (9*) remained unbeaten. Meanwhile, Jake Fraser-McGurk top-scored for DC with a knock of 20 runs off 10 balls.
Initially, Mukesh Kumar's 3/14 destroyed GT, who crumbled at 89 in 17.3 overs. Meanwhile, Ishant Sharma and Tristan Stubbs took two wickets each for DC.
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After a poor start to the ongoing campaign, DC are back in the playoffs race and are sixth in the standings with six points in seven games. Speaking in the post-match press conference, DC bowling coach James Hopes praised Pant and revealed how the team coped in his absence last year.
"He is pretty good. Last year, we tried really hard to cover that gap. But it is very hard to cover a world-class wicketkeeper, if not the best wicketkeeper-batter in the world. Now he is back, you can see everything about his game, his keeping, his captaincy is becoming very sharp, his batting is pretty good from the start of the tournament," he said.
Hopes also had a reminder for Team India selectors, ahead of the T20 World Cup. Pant missed more than a year of cricket due to a freak car accident and made his comeback in IPL 2024.
{{/usCountry}}Hopes also had a reminder for Team India selectors, ahead of the T20 World Cup. Pant missed more than a year of cricket due to a freak car accident and made his comeback in IPL 2024.
{{/usCountry}}"So he is round in some pretty good form at the back half of the tournament. He is leading really well at the moment," said Hopes.
Pant is currently DC's highest run-scorer with 210 runs in seven matches, packed with two half-centuries. He will be hoping to add more runs to his tally and push for selection in India's T20 World Cup squad.
Speaking after the win against GT, Pant said, "Lots of things to be pleased about. We talked about the champion thought process and our team showed today that we can play like that and really happy to see that. [on the bowling] Definitely one of the best, it's early on in the tournament, can't say much as we can improve individually. The only thought process before coming on to the field was coming in a better way, that's the only thought when I was going through my rehab."
"The only conversation we had before the chase was - let's get it as early as possible, we lost a few run-rate points earlier and we covered it up. We just love being in Ahmedabad, we love the stadium, the vibe here and looking forward to play more matches here. We just want to enjoy our win, one at a time and move forward learning from it," he added.