Delhi Capitals' IPL 2024 Update: Rishabh Pant to Lead, Anrich Nortje Fit for Opener

Delhi Capitals’ co-owner Parth Jindal has revealed exciting updates for the team’s upcoming IPL 2024 campaign. Rishabh Pant, the dynamic cricketer, will assume the captaincy role for the Capitals, showcasing his leadership prowess. However, in a strategic move, Pant will primarily focus on his batting skills for the first half of the season, relinquishing wicketkeeping duties.

Jindal said that the Capitals anticipated that Anrich Nortje, a fast bowler from South Africa, will be ready to play in their inaugural match on March 23 against Punjab Kings.
According to Jindal, the Capitals think-tank, which is chaired by head coach Ricky Ponting and team director Sourav Ganguly, was optimistic that Pant will start the IPL, pending the BCCI’s soon-to-be fitness clearance.

“Barrio is at bat. He is sprinting. He has begun to take wickets. For the IPL, he should be totally recovered, Jindal stated on Thursday. “Rishabh will lead from match one, and I am expecting him to participate in the IPL. We will only use him as a batter for the first seven games, and then we’ll decide whether to play him again for the remainder of the IPL based on how his body responds.”

Pant’s first competitive cricket match since the December 2022 Test series in Bangladesh will be the Indian Premier League. Pant has put a lot of effort into making a spectacular recovery from his catastrophic vehicle accident on December 30, 2022, which involved successful surgery on three main knee ligaments in his right leg. Pant participated in National Cricket Academy-organized practice matches in Bengaluru this week after promising his doctors that he would cut at least six months off their recommended recuperation period.

Along with this, Pant shared a video on Instagram on Tuesday of himself performing mobility and wicketkeeping drills, which he has been undertaking for the past six weeks as part of his lower-body conditioning. He participated in a 20-over match on Wednesday, starting and ending with a series of match-simulation drills. The BCCI medical personnel supervised the game. There were no obvious worries.
Before joining the Capitals, Pant is anticipated to participate in a minimum of a few more such games. He will train with the squad in Visakhapatnam after receiving clearance from the BCCI, where they will also play two home games.

The Capitals men’s team had to move their home base for the first part of the IPL in order to avoid starting on familiar grounds because the second half of WPL 2024, which consists of 11 games including the playoffs, is scheduled to take place at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

The Capitals are slated to play two home games and three away games in the 21-match IPL schedule that was made public on Thursday. Jindal gave his confirmation that the squad would play its final five home games in Delhi.

ANRICH NORTJE IS READY FOR THE FIRST GAME

According to Jindal, Nortje, who has been sidelined due to ailments for some time, is well and should report to the camp in Visakhapatnam. After returning home for personal reasons in 2023, Nortje had played ten games for the team after recovering from a groin injury. The franchise decided to keep him before the 2024 auction.

Despite having participated in the first season of Major League Cricket in the USA, he was subsequently disqualified from the ODI World Cup and withdrew from the home ODI series against Australia in September due to a probable stress fracture in his back. After he failed to play in the SA20 as well, questions regarding his availability for the IPL remained.

“It’s okay,” Jindal declared. He is bending with 80% intensity right now. He’ll bowl at a hundred percent next week. He intends to return to the Indian Premier League. He is coming to camp with us, so he should be ready for our opening game.”

Fast bowler Jhye Richardson of Australia, who missed the second half of the BBL and the home ODI series against the West Indies due to a side strain, is also unlikely to be fit for the first part of the competition, according to Jindal. At the December mini-auction, Richardson was purchased by Capitals for INR 5 crore (about US$ 602,000).
“He’s touch and go but will definitely be available for some part of IPL,” Jindal Stated.

HARRY BROOK WILL BAT AT NO. 6

Jindal was optimistic that the Capitals would qualify for the postseason, mostly because Pant’s comeback gave the club the proper balance. He added that Mitchell Marsh and Tristan Stubbs contributed to the team’s overall strength.

“We feel very confident, the balance of the team is a lot better with Rishabh coming back in,” he stated. “We have a very good squad and a lot of options with players like Tristan Stubbs, who had a phenomenal SA20 (with champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape), and Mitch Marsh becoming captain of Australia’s T20I team.”

The IPL icon David Warner, who is probably going to play for the Capitals for one final season following the massive auction in 2025, is another player Jindal stated he was expecting great things from. Jindal expressed his anticipation for Harry Brook, an England power batter, to be a significant contributor in the bottom order.

Jindal’s excitement for this season is also largely attributed to the addition of a new group of uncapped Indian players, many of whom he claimed Ganguly scouted and suggested. The Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra, the Haryana all-rounder Sumit Kumar, and the Madhya Pradesh batter Ricky Bhui (who is presently leading the Ranji Trophy run-scorer) are among the uncapped Indians that the Capitals purchased at the auction.

“We know our younger Indian players [better], we know which players to back in what positions a lot better than we did in the last season,” Jindal stated. “A lot of credit goes to the systems and processes put in place by Dada (Ganguly).”