Picture Credit: IPL/BCCI
Delhi Capitals have confirmed on Thursday that Rishabh Pant will retain his leadership duties for remainder of the IPL 2021 season set to be played in UAE. The wicketkeeper had been appointed as the skipper of the side earlier this year following Shreyas Iyer's shoulder injury which ruled him out of the first half of season.
Delhi Capitals performed extremely well under the leadership of Pant, winning 6 of their first 8 matches in India. This is why the franchise has decided to continue with him as the skipper, despite the return of Iyer to the squad.
"JSW-GMR co-owned Delhi Capitals today announced that Rishabh Pant will continue as Captain for the remainder of the #IPL2021 season," the franchise confirmed through an official statement on social media.
Rishabh Pant led the side from the front
There were quite a lot of questions asked when Rishabh Pant was handed the captaincy ahead of experienced campaigners like Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin and Steve Smith. However, the 23-year-old silenced his critics in some style as he displayed some unbelievable leadership qualities during the first half of the season.
He also did not let the pressure of captaincy affect his own natural style of batting as he amassed 213 runs in 8 matches on some difficult batting pitches. Retaining him as the captain would certainly boost Pant's confidence as he tries to lead his side to their maiden IPL title this year. With the return of Iyer, DC certainly have a very strong leadership group going into the UAE leg.
Delhi Capitals in first half of IPL 2021
The IPL 2020 runners-up had a brilliant first half of IPL 2021, where they registered 6 wins in 8 matches. Going into the UAE leg, Delhi Capitals find themselves sitting at top of the table with 12 points to their name. Here is the summary of DC's first 8 matches of the season:
Match 1 – DC defeated CSK by 7 wickets
Match 2 – DC lost to RR by 3 wickets
Match 3 – DC defeated PBKS by 6 wickets
Match 4 – DC defeated MI by 6 wickets
Match 5 – DC defeated SRH in super over
Match 6 – DC lost to RCB by 1 run
Match 7 – DC defeated KKR by 7 wickets
Match 8 – DC defeated PBKS by 7 wickets