IPL 2021 – Rishabh Pant to captain Delhi Capitals? With India batsman Shreyas Iyer ruled out of ongoing Ind vs Eng series and unlikely to be available for IPL 2021, the big question doing the rounds is who will lead Delhi Capitals in IPL this year. According to sources in Delhi Capitals (DC), India’s biggest match winner in last 6 months Rishabh Pant is likely to be given responsibility to lead DC for the season.
According to the information available with InsideSport.co, DC promoters Kiran Kumar Gandhi and Parth Jindal in consultation with coach Ricky Ponting will take the final call soon.
“Team is still garnering all information on status of Shreyas injury. Team promoters, head coach will take final call on who will lead us but obviously Rishabh Pant being the vice-captain should be the automatic choice”, said one of the source closely associated with Delhi Capitals.
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Along with Pant, Delhi Capitals has few other candidates like Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith, Shikhar Dhawan and R Ashwin in the squad who have experience of leading IPL franchise in the past but the source told InsideSport that DC is unlikely to look beyond Pant.
According to the source, Delhi Capitals management is likely to announce name of the new captain before the end of this Week.
IPL 2021: What is the status of Shreyas Iyer’s injury, will he be available for 2nd stage of IPL?
Shreyas Iyer has dislocated his shoulder while fielding during the 1st ODI between India and England on Tuesday. According to the information available, Iyer currently is in severe pain and is likely to undergo a surgery.
Also Read: IPL 2021: Big Blow for Delhi Capitals, Shreyas Iyer to miss entire IPL 2021
In case Iyer has to undergo a surgery, minimum he will be out from the game will be 4 Months. And as a second scenario if surgery is not required, minimum it will take 6-8 weeks for him to make a comeback. In both the scenarios, it is unlikely that Iyer will feature in IPL 202I this year.
“He will have to go under the knife. So, it looks not just the first part of IPL but Iyer will miss the entire IPL. It might take a minimum four months before he can hit the nets again. He has been under severe pain,” the BCCI source said.
Iyer took over the reins of Delhi side in the middle of 2018 and under him the team did well since – once making the play-offs and also the final last season.
Iyer is also unlikely to play for English county side Lancashire in their one-day tournament. Lancashire had on Monday announced the signing of Iyer for the tournament starting on July 23.
Also Read: IPL 2021: Rishabh Pant named Delhi Capitals skipper for IPL 2021
The 26-year-old Iyer suffered the injury in the eighth over of the England innings when he dived on a drive hit by Jonny Bairstow off pacer Shardul Thakur. He looked in tremendous pain as he left the field clutching his shoulder.
DC will not only miss Iyer as a captain but also a formidable batsman. Iyer had a prolific IPL 2020 and was the fourth highest run-scorer in the season with a tally of 519 runs behind KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner.
The Capitals’ first game is on the second day of the 2021 IPL, against the Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai.
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