Delhi Capitals have received a huge blow on the eve of their next game against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as their captain Rishabh Pant has been handed a one-match suspension, along with being fined INR 30 lakh for maintaining a slow over-rate.
The incident took place during Delhi’s last game against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on May 07, as the runners-up from the 2021 season were 10 minutes behind time at the beginning of the final over in the game.
The suspension and the healthy fine resulted from Delhi’s third slow over-rate offence in this Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
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Delhi’s middle order could be weak in the absence of Rishabh Pant
The rest of the Delhi Capitals players, including the impact substitute- Rasikh Salam have been fined INR 12 lakh or the 50% of their total match fee, whichever is lesser.
The Capitals, however, filed an appeal after challenging the decision of the match referee which was later taken to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for review, who after conducting a virtual meeting expressed that the decision of the match referee- Daniel Manohar will be final.
They however gained victory in the last game against the Royals, by 20 runs. Put into bat first, the hosts, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, reached to 221/8 in their allotted 20 overs, thanks to the couple of half centuries from Jake Fraser-McGurk (50) and Abhishek Porel (65).
Even though their leader Rishabh Pant failed to make an impact with the bat for his 15-runs in 13-balls, he took some brave and great decisions in their bowling, and made smart changes in the field placement.
Rishabh Pant, who has made his way back to the India team in the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, set to take place in the West Indies and the United States of America, has notched up 413 runs in 12 innings at an average of 41.30 with a strike rate of 156.43, including three centuries.
Rishabh Pant has been a reason why Delhi has performed quite well in the middle overs of the batting, and given he is a left-hander, the Capitals have easily maintained the right-left combination in the middle for most part of the 20 overs.
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Delhi will also miss the presence of their captain, and given how aggressive he has been batting in this tournament. Rishabh Pant’s captaincy too has been quite brilliant. Even though, the selection will be interesting.
The vice-captain of the Delhi Capitals is David Warner, who has been nursing an injury for a few weeks. Warner’s form too has been a concern for the Capitals, who has a strike rate of 135.77 for his 167 runs in this season. If he doesn’t get fit, the next best option for the Capitals will be their experienced campaigner Axar Patel.
Delhi Capitals are now at the fifth position in the points table of the IPL 2024, with six wins in 12 games at a net run rate (NRR) of -0.316. Their clash against RCB will decide their fate for the rest of the season.