"Should have brought in the spinners in the next game" - Fans criticize Rishabh Pant's captaincy in KKR vs DC IPL 2024 clash 

Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Rishabh Pant had a forgettable day at the helm of the franchise after being outplayed across all departments against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens on Monday, April 29.

The southpaw cut a frustrated figure throughout the contest, as he failed to make an impact with the bat or on the field. Pant scored a sluggish 20-ball 27 run knock in the first innings. DC had to rely on Kuldeep Yadav's unbeaten 35-run innings to reach a below-par score of 153.

In the second innings, with things not working in DC's favor as they defended a low total, Pant was not the happiest of captains. He lost his temper on multiple occasions, directing it towards bowlers and fielders alike.

However, the most pressing issue for the fans regarding Pant's captaincy remained his decision to bat first after winning the toss and introducing his frontline spinners after the powerplay, by which time KKR had amassed more than half of the target.

DC surprisingly chose to bat first after winning the toss, despite the fact that PBKS had chased down a record score at the venue a few nights ago. KKR managed to control the proceedings with the help of their spin twins. Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy finished with combined figures of 4-40 off eight overs.

Here are some of the reactions from Twitter:

"Legendary captaincy pant bro, should have brought in the spinners in the next game," one tweet read.

"Clown captaincy from Pant," another fan added.

"Worst captain of IPL is Rishabh Pant," one user wrote.

"150 was below par with how things were going" - Rishabh Pant

Just when DC were gathering momentum in the tournament, they have been hit with this demoralizing defeat. Although the Rishabh Pant-led side still have 10 points on the board, they only have three more matches left to play in the league stage, and perhaps need to win all of them with a good margin to emerge as winners in the mid-table log jam.

"It was a good option to bat first. As a batting unit we didn't bat well, 150 was below par with how things were going. But we learn from our mistakes, every day is not your day. The way we were going as a team was nice (winning 4 out of their last 5 games), but these games come along in T20s. I think anything around 180-210 would have been a good score, we didn't give our bowlers enough runs to defend," Rishabh Pant said after DC's seven-wicket defeat.

DC will now face the league leaders Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Tuesday, May 7, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.