"Rishabh Pant’s injury will affect the Delhi Capitals" - Sourav Ganguly confirms the unavailability of the wicketkeeper for IPL 2023 

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has stated that Rishabh Pant will not be playing in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. The wicketkeeper suffered injuries following a horrific car crash on December 30 and is currently admitted to Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital under the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) care.

His initial injuries, which included a series of lacerations and abrasions, were taken care of at the Max Hospital in Dehradun. However, the BCCI medical team got in touch with the hospital staff and took over the treatment, specifically surrounding the tears in his ligament, which is said to be quite serious.

The nature of the injuries leaves Pant out of contention for quite a while. He is slated to miss the entire home season and was deemed to be potentially available for IPL 2023 if his recovery goes really well.

Ganguly, who is close to being formally appointed as director of cricket for the Delhi Capitals and their sister franchises, rested the rumors by explicitly stating that the wicketkeeper is unlikely to recover in time to lead the franchise in IPL 2023. The former BCCI president told Sports Today:

“Rishabh Pant will not be available for the IPL. I am in connection with Delhi Capitals. It will be a great IPL (for the team), we will do well but Rishabh Pant’s injury will affect the Delhi Capitals."

The Delhi-born player has led the side since the 2021 edition of the tournament. He sprung into the leadership scene after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of that particular season due to a shoulder injury.

In the absence of the former U-19 World Cup player, the 2020 IPL finalists are reported to have potentially approached David Warner to assume the role of captain for the upcoming season.

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Rishabh Pant's surgery to treat ligament injury was successful

The youngster had to be switched to a private ward due to an infection scare in Dehradun before he was airlifted to Mumbai, where he was admitted to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital under BCCI's supervision.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Dinshaw Pardilwala, the head of the Centre for Sports Medicine, and Director of Arthroscopy & Shoulder Service, and his team on January 6. He suffered tears in both his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and the Media Collateral Ligament (MCL).

Pant was reportedly carrying a niggle on his knee, for which he was scheduled to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. He was not selected for the ongoing white-ball series against Sri Lanka as well.

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