WATCH: ‘Nervous’ Rishabh Pant signals he’s back with moment of magic behind stumps

Rishabh Pant’s comeback to the crease after more than a year on the sidelines ended in just 13 balls after the Delhi Capitals captain perished in the 13th over while trying to attempt a ramp shot against Harshal Patel. The pace of the ball from Patel deceived Pant, who ended up offering an easy catch at backward point.

The Delhi Capitals went on to lose their IPL 2024 opener by four wickets against the Punjab Kings at the new Mullanpur Stadium.

Pant’s comeback after 454 days

“Personally, I was pretty nervous but you have to go through this when you enter the field. This isn’t the first time being nervous, but happy about my return overall. I think we had a par score, but because we were one bowler short because of an injury, can’t do much about it. The wicket played as we expected to play, can’t make excuses. We will learn from it but having one bowler short is never good.

But while Pant’s batting comeback had ended with him furiously trudging off the ground after scoring just 18 runs, he gave a glimpse of his vintage self behind the stumps.

Mohali: Delhi Capitals’ captain Rishabh Pant plays a shot during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, in Mohali, Saturday, March 23, 2024. (Express photo by Kamleshwar Singh)

WATCH: Rishabh Pant stumps Jitesh Sharma

Pant was instrumental in sending back Punjab Kings’ Jitesh Sharma for just nine runs with an incredible stumping.

The incident came in the 12th over, being bowled by Kuldeep Yadav, where the spinner sent a length ball down legside that Jitesh tried to reverse sweep.

While Jitesh missed the ball, Pant was at hand to capitalise, collecting the ball low with a stretching squat and then noticing that Jitesh had strayed outside the crease, whipping off the bails.

𝙌𝙐𝙄𝘾𝙆 𝙃𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙎 ⚡

Skipper @RishabhPant17 with an amazing piece of glove work to dismiss Jitesh Sharma 👐#PBKS require 63 from 36 deliveries

Watch the match LIVE on @JioCinema and @StarSportsIndia 💻📱

Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/ZhjY0W03bC #TATAIPL | #PBKSvDC pic.twitter.com/x8SkXZwXBX

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 23, 2024

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Earlier, Delhi Capitals had managed to post just 174 runs on board (for the loss of nine wickets).

It was Abhishek Porel, batting at number nine, who top-scored for DC with an unbeaten 32 off only 10 balls. Porel’s knock had lifted Delhi after Pant’s team had struggled at the start.

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