IPL 2021: “As a player, you don’t focus on match-ups” - Rishabh Pant on facing Jasprit Bumrah

Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Rishabh Pant has said that individual duels between two opposition players don’t matter in the game. According to Pant, the key is to read the situation and react accordingly.

Rishabh Pant was responding to a query from Sportskeeda on Mumbai Indians (MI)'s move to bring back Jasprit Bumrah when the left-hander came out to bat in DC's chase.

Bumrah dismissed Rishabh Pant for 7, having him caught off a slower off-cutter. However, DC went on to win the match by six wickets, chasing a target of 138 with five balls to spare.

Speaking at a virtual press conference following DC’s triumph, Rishabh Pant played down the face-off between him and Bumrah, saying in this regard:

“As a player, you don’t focus on match-ups too much. It doesn’t matter what you are doing or what you have done before. Everyday is a new day in cricket. They bowled him (Jasprit Bumrah) because they had to bowl him at that time. There was no other option. I had to go for my shots because we were chasing. So I think you need to focus on the scenarios much more rather than match-ups.”

Veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra starred for DC in his team's upset win over MI, claiming 4 for 24. Shikhar Dhawan (45) and Steven Smith (33) then eased the path for DC during the chase.

Amit Mishra brought us back in the game: Rishabh Pant

Bowling first after losing the toss, DC seemed set to chase a big score, as MI were well placed at 76 for 2 in the ninth over. However, Mishra turned the game on its head by sending back Rohit Sharma for 44. DC were in the ascendancy after that.

At the post-match conference, Rishabh Pant observed that Mishra’s spell was a game-changer, saying:

“When we started, we were under a bit of pressure, but Mishi bhai got us back into the game. It was a low-scoring match, but a difficult pitch to bat on. We just wanted to keep it simple, and we wanted to restrict them to at least 140-150."

Rishabh Pant also praised Lalit Yadav, who claimed 1 for 17 in his four overs and contributed an unbeaten 22 with the bat. Pant said:

“I think Lalit is a great Indian player, and we are looking to groom him.”

With their third win in four matches, Delhi Capitals moved to second in the IPL points table 2021, behind only Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).