“Rishabh Pant will be seen playing this year in the IPL,” says Aakash Chopra

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra on Wednesday gave his opinion on Rishabh Pant and said that the India wicketkeeper-batter will be seen playing in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 for the Delhi Capitals (DC).

While speaking on his official YouTube channel, Chopra said that it was ‘miraculous’ how Pant recovered from his injury.
‘There are filtered reports that Rishabh Pant will be seen playing this year in the IPL, which is absolutely phenomenal. It is miraculous, considering where he came from and where he has reached,’ Chopra said.

The 46-year-old added that he was ‘happy’ just to see Pant alive after he suffered multiple injuries from a vehicle accident at the end of 2022.

‘Cricket is a very small part of life. It’s very important but cricket is there only if there is life. The sort of accident it was, I was just happy that he was alive. I am pretty sure he would have had to work very hard during the journey from there to here because it’s difficult and extremely lonely as well,’ he added.

The former India opener also felt that the 26-year-old will ‘bat and captain’ for the Delhi-based franchise in the upcoming IPL season.

‘He will bat and captain. With batting, he solves an extremely important problem for the Delhi Capitals because he can bat slightly down the order as, unfortunately, all their good players are top-order batters,’ he further added.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), last July provided a fitness update on the batter in a statement which stated that he had ‘commenced batting as well as keeping in the nets’ and had made ‘significant progress in his rehabilitation.’

Pant has represented DC since 2016 and scored 2,838 runs in 98 matches at an average of 34.61 and a strike rate of over 147, with a century and 15 fifties to his name.