Batting great Sunil Gavaskar feels that Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant might take some time to get back the fluency on his return to competitive cricket in IPL 2024. Pant will be playing his first competitive game since the horrific car accident in December 2022. The wicketkeeper batter has been declared fit by the BCCI and NCA for the role of wicketkeeper batter. However, it is not going to be an easy task for Pant to get back to his best straightaway he might take some time to get settled back into the game.
“It’ll be very difficult. But the good thing is he (Pant) has played some cricket. So he has got some practice. To get fluency in batting is a little tough,” Gavaskar told ‘Star Sports’.
Pant will be seen on a cricket field for a competitive game after more than 14 months, undergoing an extensive rehabilitation programme at National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru.
Also Read |
Gavaskar elaborated and said that when a batter recovers from a knee injury then it will react better once he starts batting more and more in match situations.
“When you talk of a knee injury, the pivoting that takes place. Wicket-keeping is difficult as well, but even in batting, the knee is quite important. So, maybe, in the beginning, we won’t see the real Rishabh Pant that we are used to,” the maestro said.
“Pant’s presence and his chatty nature also add to the entertainment quotient,” Gavaskar admitted.
“To find a wicket-keeper like him who comments from behind the stumps, that’s full-on entertainment because there are a lot of wicket-keepers who would like to disturb your concentration by saying different things.”
“…..but Rishabh Pant has the ability to say such a thing that whoever he is targeting, they also laugh, they also enjoy it. But when enjoying it, their concentration goes down a bit, right? The advantage is for his team then.”
Gavaskar asserted that he is also looking forward to seeing Gujarat Titans’ Shubman Gill in the captaincy role as the talented youngster will be leading an IPL side for the first time.
“That is going to be the most important thing: the way he can handle the captaincy. Will it affect and impact his batting? And the second thing is there is a commonality in our initials; both of us are SG’s, and if we go even further, my initials are SMG, and he has Shubh-Man Gill in his name,” he added.
