Analysis
Three players who could lead Delhi in Rishabh Pant’s absence in Indian T20 League 2023
One of the players captained the Hyderabad team to a title victory in 2016.
Rishabh Pant, the Indian batter, met with an accident on December 30 and was shifted to the Max hospital in Dehradun. To add more, the southpaw was on his way to Delhi to surprise his mother ahead of the new year and eventually met with an accident as his car crashed into the divider during the early hours.
Given that he is recovering well and faster than expected, he is also set to miss the Border-Gavaskar trophy and Indian T20 League set to take place in March and April-May. The Indian star is supposed to lead the Delhi franchise and given that he is out of contention, we decided to handpick three players who could potentially lead the team in the upcoming season.
Here are the three players:
3) Manish Pandey
Manish Pandey, the Indian batter, was a part of the Lucknow franchise and was roped in by the Delhi franchise as the former team released him ahead of the mini-auction that took place in Kochi on December 23. The batter was a part of the Bangalore franchise early in his career and then went on a full circle playing for various franchises including Hyderabad and Pune.
With experience under his belt, Pandey might be considered a potential candidate to lead the team in Pant’s absence. Given that the right-handed batter was the first Indian player to score a century in the league, his name, fame and experience would help him lead the Delhi franchise for the upcoming season.
2) Prithvi Shaw:
Prithvi Shaw, the right-handed batter, is out of contention at present for India’s white-ball setup and the talented batter has been expressing his concern regarding the same on his social media accounts, fans have been claiming that the batter must wait for his opportunity and focus on the present.
As things stand, with Rishabh Pant unavailable for the upcoming edition of the Indian T20 League, Shaw could be tasked to lead the team in the former’s absence. With a proven history of winning the U-19 World Cup in 2018, letting Shaw lead the team will not be a bad choice at all.
1) David Warner
With the former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting at the back end, David Warner, the veteran Kangaroo star, might be tasked to captain the team and lead Delhi to glory in the upcoming season. Although Warner is banned from leading the national team due to the Sandpapergate scandal, he could still lead domestic teams as and when possible.
With experience and proven legacy, Warner might be the perfect and first-hand choice to lead the team. To add more, it was under his captaincy, that Hyderabad won the Indian T20 League in 2016 post defeating the Virat Kohli-led Bangalore in the finals.