Rajasthan Royals' veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin provided words of encouragement to Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant during both teams practice session ahead of their clash at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Thursday, March 28.
Pant had an emotional comeback to competitive cricket after a gap of 454 days during Delhi Capitals' opening IPL 2024 match against Punjab Kings. The 26-year-old was on the sidelines for 15 months due to severe injuries sustained following horrific car crash on Delhi-Dehradun Highway on Janaury 1, 2022.
Pant had a quite outing in his comeback match as he scored just 18 off 13 balls, but spectators and fans were in joy to see the wicketkeeper-batter walked out to bat after a long injury layoff.
In a video shared by Rajasthan Royals on its X handle (formerly Twitter), R Ashwin was encouraging Rishabh Pant to keep playing behind the nets and the latter hit for a six. Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting is heard saying to Ashwin to stand behind Pant during the match.
Delhi Capitals had a disappointing start to the IPL 2024 campaign as they lost to Punjab Kings by four wickets in Mullanpur while Rajastha Royals defeated Lucknow Super Giants in their opening match of the tournament.
Delhi Capitals will look to bounce back from defeat to hand over Rishabh Pant's first win as a captain in his comeback tournament while Rajasthan Royals will aim for the second win on the trot.
Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals have locked horns with each other in 27 times, with Jaipur-based team leading 14-13. The upcoming encounter will be their 28th match against each other and Delhi Capitals will look to equal the win-loss record while Rajasthan Royal will aim to extend their lead.
