Four-hundred-and-fifty-three days since he last played a competitive match, India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is "jittery" to resume playing cricket on Saturday afternoon when he will lead Delhi Capitals in their IPL opener against hosts Punjab Kings. The hiatus was forced on Pant after a life-threatening car crash on December 30, 2022, from which he successfully recovered after extensive rehab.
"Jittery, nervous, excited - all of it," Pant described his emotional state on the eve of his first IPL match in two years, having sat out the 2023 season. "But at the same time, just happy being able to come back to professional cricket. I'm just looking forward to playing my first game tomorrow."
As soon as the BCCI's medical team had declared Pant fit, both as a wicketkeeper and batter, Pant flew to join the franchise's preparatory camp in Visakhapatnam, where Capitals will play home matches in the schedule announced so far. Like a kid who had been kept away from doing his favourite thing, Pant batted obsessively in the nets, according to Capitals' head coach Ricky Ponting.
Pant felt he did that because he wanted to practise as much as possible and give himself "the best chance to become a better cricketer".
Ponting described Pant as the "heartbeat" of the team. "There's no doubt last year we missed our captain, we missed one of the best players in the world," he said. "Just his attitude, his smile, the way he goes about his cricket, he's a winner. He wants to win games.
"He wants to do the best he can for the team all the time. And when you have that attitude coming back into a team, that's infectious. Everyone wants to be like Rishabh and play the way that he plays his cricket. He's our leader. He's the heartbeat of this franchise and having him back is going to make this team a lot better and a lot stronger."
Ponting the coach is usually a positive and smiling person, but Pant's return has got him super excited for the new season as Capitals attempt to win the IPL for the first time. "The fact that he is back smiling puts a smile on my face as well. Knowing that I've got my captain back, knowing that I've got one of the best players in the world in all three formats back in my team, I'm smiling, his team-mates are all smiling."