Rishabh Pant Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Delhi Capitals have announced that Rishabh Pant will be the captain for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. The new skipper was announced after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of IPL 2021 after sustaining an injury during the first ODI against England. The 26-year-old will undergo a surgery on April 8, a day prior to commencement of IPL 2021.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will become the 12th player to captain Delhi Capitals, that is the joint-highest for any IPL franchise along with Punjab Kings (previously KXIP). Both these franchises have not been successful over the years. Although, Delhi's fortunes have changed under Shreyas Iyer's captaincy in the last two IPL seasons.
Let us take a look at some of the interesting numbers and stats after this recent development:
12 - Rishabh Pant will become the 12th player to captain DC. Players who have captained DC previously are:
V.Sehwag
G.Gambhir
Dinesh Karthik
James Hopes
Mahela Jayawardene
David Warner
Kevin Pietersen
JP Duminy
Zaheer Khan
Karun Nair
Shreyas Iyer
Rishabh Pant*
23 - At the age of 23, Rishabh Pant will captain his IPL side. Rishabh Pant will become the 5th player to captain a side at such a young age. Other players who have captained their IPL side at the age of 24 or less are:
Virat Kohli
Steven Smith
Suresh Raina
Shreyas Iyer
Rishabh Pant*
Note :- Only Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant were appointed as full-time captains out of these five players.
68 - Rishabh Pant has played 68 matches in IPL before making his debut as captain in IPL
Most IPL matches played before captaincy debut:
K.Pollard - 137 in 2019
R.Ashwin - 111 in 2018
Bhuvneshwar Kumar - 103 in 2019
A.Rahane - 97 in 2017
M.Vijay - 92 in 2016
Rohit Sharma - 84 in 2013
Zaheer Khan - 77 in 2016
Shikhar Dhawan - 68 in 2014
R.Pant - 68 in 2021*
KL Rahul - 67 in 2020