IPL 2020: Will Rishabh Pant play against RR tonight?

It was a double whammy for the Delhi Capitals as they lost against Mumbai Indians on Sunday and then lost wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant to a Grade 1 tear on Monday (October 12).

The development came to light after Pant seemed to have pulled his hamstring while sprinting towards mid-wicket to stop a quick single during the match against Rajasthan Royals on Friday. After that, the 23-year-old was seen struggling to reach the wickets while collecting throws from the deep before finally limping across to complete the catch of Varun Aaron to cap off a 46-run win.

Things went from bad to worse as a DC official on Monday confirmed to ANI that Rishabh Pant suffered a Grade 1 tear.

“He has a Grade 1 tear and it is not just a hamstring pull as was believed to be. He is under observation and we are hoping he gets fit quickly,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

While Rishabh Pant was left out of the match against MI on Sunday, he is likely to miss tonight’s clash against Rajasthan Royals as well. Even DC skipper Shreyas Iyer couldn’t comment on Pant’s availability in Sunday’s post-match conference.

Rishabh Pant’s absence will affect the balance of DC

Ajinkya Rahane played his first match of the season against MI on Sunday (Credits: IPLT20.com)

Though Ajinkya Rahane replaced Rishabh Pant in the DC playing XI for the clash against MI, India’s Test vice-captain scored a run-a-ball 15, thus failing to make the most of the powerplay overs. DC could only manage 46 for 2 at the end of the mandatory field restrictions.

Rishabh Pant’s absence threw up a two-pronged problem for the Shreyas Iyer-led side. While Rahane – who played his first IPL 2020 match versus MI – was slow to get off the blocks, he is anyway not as hard a hitter as Pant and cannot accelerate from the word go.

The other factor was that Shreyas Iyer had to move one slot below to accommodate Rahane at the No. 3 spot. Not only did this affect the balance of the side, but the change also robbed DC off a T20 specialist who would generally come in handy while steadying the ship, as well as smacking some lusty blows at the death.

After going up against RR tonight, DC lock horns with the sixth-placed Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. It’d be intriguing to see if Rishabh Pant is available for selection by that time. If he is not and Rahane fails to deliver the goods tonight, DC would be forced to make further changes to their line-up.

Check out IPL 2020 schedule