Delhi Capitals are expected to include promising Bengal wicketkeeper-batsman Abishek Porel as the replacement for the injured Rishabh Pant for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), reports said.
The 20-year-old Porel has put up some impressive performances in the domestic circuit, having scored 695 runs in 16 first-class matches at an average of 30.21. His work behind the stumps in first-class matches has seen him bag 58 catches and effect eight stumpings. He has played three List A and T20 matches each. Porel, who bats left-handed made his first-class debut in February last year against Baroda.
Also read – IPL 2023: Rishabh Pant ‘Will Always Be Back, There’s No Hurry’, Says Sourav Ganguly
Porel has been handy with the bat in the Ranji Trophy in the season that just got over. He narrowly missed his half-century against Haryana in the group stage of the tournament before going on to score two defiant fifties in the knockouts – 51 in the semi-final against Madhya Pradesh and 50 in the final against Saurashtra.
While Sarfaraz Khan is widely expected to take up wicketkeeping duties in the absence of Pant, it will be a good opportunity for the Porel to enter an IPL dressing room, Sportskeeda reported. The young Bengal ‘keeper will learn from interacting with the likes of David Warner, Axar Patel, Mitchell Marsh and other international stars in the Delhi Capitals dressing room and can be groomed into a player for the future.
Also read – IPL 2023: Ricky Ponting Rues Rishabh Pant’s Absence, Yet To Take ‘Keeper Call
Regular captain Pant has been put out of action indefinitely after he suffered a near-fatal car crash late last year. The Delhi franchise will sorely miss the dashing ‘keeper-batsman, who has a strike rate of 147.97, which is one of the better strike rates in the history of the tournament. Last year, his strike rate was even better as he amassed 340 runs striking at 151.79. Pant has scored 2,838 runs in 98 matches in the IPL overall. He also has 64 catches and 18 stumpings to his name. In India colours, Pant has emerged as a major match-winner in recent times and stunned all and sundry with his audacious shots.
Both Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting and Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly have lamented the absence of Pant.
“He is the heart and soul of the Delhi Capitals, he is a Delhi boy, he is our leader,” Ponting said at a team event earlier this month. “In an ideal world for me, he’d be sitting next to me in the dugout,” he added.
“Anybody would miss Rishabh Pant. I am sure the national team is missing him as well. But it’s unfortunate what has happened. He is young, so he has got a lot of time left in his career. I have always said that he is a special player and I have not hidden that,” Ganguly said during a pre-season camp at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
“I wish he (Pant) comes back. Whatever time it takes, he must heal properly and come back. There is no hurry because someone as brilliant as him will always be back,” he added.
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