Sourav Ganguly provides big update on Rishabh Pant’s availability for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023

Team India’s star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant had met with a horrific car crash in the early morning hours of December 30.

The 25-year-old is currently undergoing treatment for his injuries in Mumbai after initially being hospitalized at a private hospital in Dehradun; while the cricketer is stable, he is staring at a long time away from the game. As Pant continues to undergo treatment, Sourav Ganguly, former BCCI President, who is reported to have joined Delhi Capitals as their director of cricket, has seemingly confirmed that the cricketer will miss this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League.

“Rishabh Pant will not be available for the IPL. I am in connection with Delhi Capitals. It will be a great IPL (for the team), we will do well but Rishabh Pant’s injury will affect the Delhi Capitals,” Ganguly told reporters in Kolkata, as informed by Sports Today.

Ganguly had earlier been a part of the Capitals franchise as an advisor during the 2019 season of the league. He left the role after ascending to presidential role in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). In October last year, Ganguly was succeeded by Roger Binny.

Rishabh Pant is currently the captain of the Delhi Capitals; in 2021, Pant had led the franchise to the playoffs. Last year, Capitals fell marginally in their bid to qualify for the playoffs, as they finished fifth in the table.

The wicketkeeper-batter has been the part of franchise since making his maiden appearance in the league in 2016. An integral member of the national team, Pant had been a part of India’s playing XI merely four days before the accident, when he took the field against Bangladesh in the second and final Test of the series. In Pant’s absence, KL Rahul has assumed responsibilities of keeper-batter in the ODIs, while Ishan Kishan donned the wicketkeeping gloves in the shortest format.