Rishabh Pant back at the helm for Delhi Capitals

New Delhi: Rishabh Pant was on Tuesday appointed as the captain of Delhi Capitals (DC) for the upcoming IPL 2024, marking a wonderful chapter in his miraculous comeback saga.

The keeper-batter missed cricketing action for close to 15 months after suffering a horrific car accident in December, 2022.

"We are delighted to welcome Rishabh back as our captain. Grit and fearlessness have always dictated his brand of cricket, and not surprisingly, even his road to recovery.

"I can't wait to see him walk our team out once again as we look forward to a new season with renewed passion, vigour and enthusiasm," said DC chairman and co-owner Parth Jindal in a media release.

The left-hander has been a part of DC's  pre-season preparatory camp in Visakhapatnam ahead of their first IPL 2024 match against Punjab Kings in Chandigarh on Saturday.

The IPL begins on Friday.

Earlier, Pant was given clearance by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to play as a wicketkeeper-batter in this year's IPL.

DC head coach Ricky Ponting too had given a thumbs-up for the way Pant was playing at nets during the team's camp.

"We missed him incredibly last year. The whole tournament missed him. Rishabh brings so much energy to the team. He's got that smile on his face, he's hitting the ball as good as ever and he tends to lift all of his teammates around him," said Ponting.

Last year's Australian veteran David Warner had led DC and they finished ninth in the 10-team league with five wins and nine loses.