Delhi Capitals had a forgettable outing on Wednesday as the side slumped to its third defeat in the 2024 Indian Premier League. The Rishabh Pant-led side conceded a mammoth 272/7 against Kolkata Knight Riders – the second-highest score in the history of the league – before being bowled out for 166 in the chase. While the chase looked improbable even before the start of DC’s innings, Rishabh Pant (55) and Tristan Stubbs (53) showed a fight in the middle, taking the Capitals to a respectable score after a top-order collapse.
However, Virender Sehwag, the former India and Capitals opener, wasn’t too happy with Pant throwing his wicket away as the latter aimed at finding boundaries relentlessly, owing to the towering target. Sehwag believes that Pant should’ve stayed at the crease and converted his half-century into a big score.
Pant made a comeback to cricketing action in the IPL after over a year’s absence from the game as he recovered from a near-fatal car accident in December 2022. He smashed his second successive half-century during the game against KKR in Visakhapatnam.
“Yes, it (Pant’s innings) was good. But you didn’t score much in the first two games, and now, when you’re scoring runs, you are giving your wicket away. You should have stayed, reached a century, and remained unbeaten on 110 or 120. Because runs dry pretty fast,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz as he talked about Pant’s batting.
“His batting was good, he has come back to form and scoring at a brilliant strike rate. Aaj vaise bhi pehle over se pata tha ki haarne waale hain, jeetenge toh nahi (Today, we knew from the very first over that they weren’t going to win). This was the time to do some batting practice. Instead of going to nets now, you could’ve played 20 extra deliveries here. Then you could’ve probably skipped practice overall and returned in the next match straightaway,” Sehwag added.
Pant scored his first fifty on his return to cricketing action last week when the side defeated Ruturaj Gaikwad’s Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs. With one win in four matches, DC reel in ninth position in the table.
DC face MI next
In their next match, the Capitals will be up against an opponent experiencing a more severe slump: Mumbai Indians. MI, under their new captain, Hardik Pandya, are yet to register a win in their first three matches. Additionally, the franchise’s own fans have seemingly turned against their newly-appointed skipper, booing him during the side’s first home match against Rajasthan Royals earlier this week.
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