Sports
IPL 2024: Rishabh Pant shows glimpses of his old self in composed comeback to competitive cricket
Mullanpur, March 24 (IANS) The spotlight in the lead-up to Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals clash at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Saturday was firmly fixed on one man: Rishabh Pant and how he would fare on his return to competitive cricket after 14 months and 28 days.
The pull of Pant’s much-awaited return to cricket after recovering from injuries following a life-threatening car accident in December 2022 was such that a huge number of fans in attendance at Mullanpur came from New Delhi, apart from nearby places in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Haryana.
The eager fans awaiting to see a glimpse of Pant on the field sported jerseys with his name and numbers ranging from 17 to 777, had to brace some challenges. They stood through the afternoon heat and survived illogical security arrangements which saw them reach the stadium via dangerous kacha roads of the villages.
If that wasn’t enough, they even had to walk a few kilometres to reach the stadium gates after parking their vehicles in the makeshift parking space, which is originally agricultural fields. The fans got their moment of sighting when Pant indulged in some drills and arrived at the toss, making for a life-affirming, emotional and magical sight of him looking fully fit and walking with ease.
He got gentle handshakes from commentator Daren Ganga and PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan before the toss began. Though the toss didn’t fall in Pant’s favour, he got good cheers from the crowd when his turn to speak to Ganga came. “It is a really emotional time for me. I just want to enjoy every moment on the field. Looking forward to my first match back.”
Dhawan opted to bowl first, which meant DC would bat first and team sheet showed Pant slotted in at number four, with the star of captain and plus sign of wicketkeeper against his name, a moment which many waited for with bated breath and tears of joy filling up the eyes.
When Harshal Patel dismissed David Warner with a slower bouncer in the eighth over, the review took its own sweet time to determine the batter was out. But the crowd, especially the ones seated at the top and had no roof to save themselves from the heat, had already started to cheer.
The cheers from the crowd was not for Harshal taking out Warner, but it was for the next batter who was ready to walk in to the field at 4:06pm, the cynosure of everyone’s eyes in the match – Rishabh Pant.
As Pant started to walk towards the middle, he looked upwards to the sun for a very brief time and began his walk to join Shai Hope at the crease.
When the stadium announcer introduced Pant as the next batter on the public address system, the more than half-full crowd in the stadium stood up to clap with a wholesome cheer. Pant fist-pumped with Hope and was down on his knees for some time before doing a warm-up of running between the wickets to finalise his prep himself for a moment he and everyone in the cricketing ecosystem waited for so long – of being back at the cricket.
The first ball on return he faced from left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar, Pant went down on his right knee for attempting a cut on an angled away delivery but didn’t get desired connection as he found the fielder at point.
On his second ball, Pant clipped past midwicket for a single to be off the mark. Coming back after a long time, it was understandable that caution was the need of the hour when Pant refused to take twos twice in his first six deliveries.
At four, Pant pulled a short ball from leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, who earlier beat the left-hander on flight, towards deep mid-wicket, where Harshal Patel made a mess of a catching chance to give him his first boundary.
He wowed the crowd by piercing the gap between mid-off and cover with a picture-perfect extra-cover drive on a half-volley from Patel, with no one moving from their positions on the field and fans rejoicing in seeing a delightful shot from their man of the moment.
Pant’s return was cut on his 13th ball when he tried to ramp Harshal over the keeper, but the slower ball angled in to the bod gave him no pace for the shot and ended up lobbing the catch to backward point, falling for 18 in 23 minutes of being back in his native environment.
Pant made the way back to the dressing room by hitting his pads with the bat, furious over missing out on a chance to do something special on return. Visuals later showed head coach Ricky Ponting trying to calm down his visibly sad captain, who even did a hand-punch out of frustration.
After DC made 174/9, Pant had to face another litmus test: of keeping and leading his team, especially after losing Ishant Sharma in the sixth over. Having been declared fit as wicketkeeper, the other concern around Pant was how he would fare as a keeper, especially in moving sideways.
To everyone’s delight, Pant didn’t look troubled in his keeping whether it was against fast-bowlers or spinners. Though he didn’t collect the ball properly to have Jitesh Sharma stumped while standing up to the gentle medium-pace of Sumit Kumar, Pant would make amends when the batter shaped for a reverse-sweep against Kuldeep.
He collected the ball in a stretching low position and whipped off the bails in a jiffy when Jitesh was out of crease. Pant pointed to the square-leg umpire that the batter didn’t have his back leg behind in time, which the replays showed in exact same way, with a smile on his face as the big screen showed ‘Out’.
In between, Pant the captain was motivating his side in the huddle at strategic time-outs and oversaw sending out typical chirpy messages from behind the stumps. For example, when Kuldeep was having a crack at Sam Curran and Prabhsimran Singh, Pant would motivate him by saying, ‘Lamba maarne de usko’ (allow him to hit long), followed by ‘theek daal raha hain, khul-ke daal’ (you are bowling fine. Bowl with a free mind).
Even when Prabhsimran showed signs of aggression, Pant urged Kuldeep to be calm from behind. “Daalta rahe, tu hi hai, milega (just keep bowling, you will get his wicket). His words came true as Kuldeep had Prabhsimran holing out in the deep.
He would be swift in moving fielders quickly, was on ears with bowlers like Mitchell Marsh, would complete the catch of Shashank Singh in the 19th over by Khaleel Ahmed and even had some words of motivation for Sumit, tasked to bowl the final over in his IPL debut, though DC ended up on the losing side.
After the game ended, Pant admitted to the broadcasters about being nervous on his return to cricket, evident from him trying too many shots in the start of his batting innings. His focus, though, was of DC being a bowler short in defence of 174 after Ishant’s ankle injury.
“Personally, I was pretty nervous, but you have to go through this when you enter the field.” But this isn’t the first time you’re feeling nervous. Happy about (returning to the game) but at the same time, I think we had a par score but because we were one bowler short, because of Ishant’s injury, but can’t do much about it,” he said.
In the post-match press conference, PBKS left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh welcomed Pant’s return to the field. “It felt extremely great as he has made a very good comeback to the game. It felt really good to see him come after putting in the hard yards mentally as well as physically. It’s never easy to come back after such a big injury.
“I loved the way crowd welcomed him and felt very nice over him getting proper support from the spectators. It also felt great that he didn’t make much runs against us (saying in jest), but wishing him a lot of luck and lots of runs in this season,” said Arshdeep.
Pravin Amre, DC’s assistant coach, conceded that Pant walking out to bat led to some emotional scenes for the support staff in what was his composed comeback to the game. “As coaches we don’t get emotional but this one was emotional. To me it was special because I have seen him, the first year of Rishabh Pant (in this franchise) and his journey for DC. I know how much the team missed him last year.
“We’re happy with the way he conducted himself and credit to him because it’s not that easy to come back after 14 months and handling that pressure. I think he’s the guy who likes to take the pressure on. He wants to go out there and deliver with his keeping and batting. So, it was basically really good to see him back on the field.
“Mostly, words are just not there. Going and just tapping his back (before the game), that shows what we feel because so many times you don’t need to express the words that we are with him. Not only me, Ricky and Sourav were also there, and we as a coaching group were behind him and were extremely happy to see him in action.”
The last 15 months had fans and everyone in the cricketing community go through a whirlwind of emotions concerning Pant – ardent prayers for his total recovery, the coming to terms about his absence from the field for an uncertain period, being happy on seeing him walk crutches free and reading about him cherishing the smallest joys life offers.
They all were being optimistic (and sometimes pessimistic) about his return when he batted for a brief time at the JSW Independence Day function and finally, shed joyful tears with goosebumps and relief mixed in heart and mind on seeing him slowly coming back to his old self at the new stadium in Mullanpur on March 23, 2024.
Even though fans faced difficulties in getting back to their respective destinations from the stadium after the game ended, they were more than content to see Pant being well and truly back at the cricket, carrying a strong belief with themselves that they witnessed the commencement of an extremely special chapter in his life and professional cricket career.
–IANS
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Bengaluru, Aug 22 (IANS) Shivamogga Lions’ woes continued as they suffered a 28-run defeat to the Mysore Warriors in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
Mysore Warriors delivered a well-rounded performance, anchored by Karun Nair’s (45) swift knock, supported by a few other good contributions in the middle order, and highlighted by late-innings fireworks from J Suchith (22*) and Manoj Bhandage (23).
On the bowling front, Vidyadhar Patil (3/29) and Karthik CA (3/31) played crucial roles in restricting the Shivamogga Lions. Sharath HS’ (4/29) lethal spell with the ball and valiant efforts from Abhinav Manohar (46) and Nihal Ullal (46) with the bat couldn’t turn the tide in Shivamogga’s favour.
Chasing 180, Shivamogga Lions got off to a disastrous start, with Vidyadhar Patil’s lethal first over leading to the dismissals of Mohith Bangalore (2) and Dheeraj Mohan (0) in consecutive deliveries. Skipper Nihal Ullal (46) managed to crack a few early boundaries, but Hardik Raj (17) was also removed by Krishnappa Gowtham, leaving the Lions reeling at 41/3 by the end of the powerplay.
K Gowtham then engineered the run out of Rohan Naveen (11), further denting the chase. The in-form Abhinav Manohar (Impact Player) joined Ullal, and the duo breathed life into the innings, putting together a 70-run partnership in just 43 balls.
However, Ullal fell short of his first half-century of the season, leaving the Shivamogga Lions at 123/5 in 15.1 overs. Manohar also narrowly missed his milestone, holing out to K Gowtham off Karthik CA. Manohar’s 26-ball knock included four sixes and three fours, adding valuable runs to the total.
Karthik CA struck again two deliveries later, dismissing Shivraj S and leaving the Lions in deep trouble. With 47 runs needed from the final 18 balls, Ashok D tried to keep the chase alive by smashing a six and a four off Vidyadhar Patil, but perished in the same over, effectively ending Shivamogga’s prospects. Shivamogga Lions finished at 151/9 in 20 overs, enduring their sixth consecutive loss.
Batting first, Mysore Warriors faced an early challenge as Sharath HS unleashed a menacing spell. He struck in the powerplay, dismissing Karthik SU (8), and then returned in the seventh over to remove CA Karthik (30), who smashed three sixes in a 34-run stand with Karun Nair (45) and Harshil Dharmani (0).
Nair continued in fine touch and peppered the boundary with six fours and two sixes during his 23-ball stay before falling to Ashok D in the 11th over.
Kishan Bedare (17) steered the innings, forming a 28-run partnership with Nair and adding another 29 runs with Sumit Kumar (28) before being caught and bowled by Bharath Dhuri, leaving the Warriors at 116/5 in 16.1 overs. The depth of Mysore’s batting lineup came to the fore as Manoj Bhandage and J Suchith launched a late assault.
Vasuki Koushik, tasked with the 18th over, began with a six and a four from Sumit Kumar. Bhandage then took charge, hammering three consecutive sixes off Koushik in the same over before falling as Sharath’s fourth wicket in the 19th ending a blistering 23-run cameo off just seven balls. J Suchith, carried on the momentum, smashing two sixes and a four in an 8-ball flurry, pushing the Mysore Warriors to a competitive 179/7 in their 20 overs.
Brief scores: Mysore Warriors 179 for 7 in 20 overs (Karthik CA 30, Karun Nair 45, Sumit Kumar 28; Sharath HS 4-29) beat Shivamogga Lions 151/9 in 20 overs (Nihal Ullal 46, Abhinav Manohar 46 runs; Vidyadhar Patil 3-29, Karthik CA 3-31) by 28 runs.
–IANS
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Castle Rock (Colorado), Aug 22 (IANS) Indian Americans Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia who failed to make it to the Top-10 last week at the St Jude Championships, the first of the three Play-offs events, will be looking for a better showing as they move towards the finale at the Tour Championships after that.
Last week Hideki Matsuyama, after leading by five at one time, had to birdie the last two holes to win the St Jude Championships. He became the first Asian to win a Play-off event and it was his 10th PGA Tour win, the highest from the continent.
Last week Bhatia was T-12, Rai was T-16 and Theegala was way behind in T-46, but all three have entered the second of the three Play-offs events.
World No, 2 Xander Schauffele, a two-time Major winner in 2024, was tied second last week with Viktor Hovland, while World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was fourth last week, though World No. 3 Rory McIlroy had a poor week in T-68 place.
Among Asians Korea’s Si Woo Kim has all to play for at the BMW Championship, the second of three FedExCup Playoffs events, in Colorado this week, with two big goals providing the drive for him to step up his game.
The four-time PGA TOUR winner tees up at Castle Pines Golf Club with the intention of breaking into the top-30 of the FedExCup points list and qualify for the Playoffs Finale, the TOUR Championship next week. Kim is presently ranked 44th after last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship.
A strong week is also required for Kim to keep alive his hopes of earning a spot in the International Team to face the U.S. Team in the Presidents Cup in Royal Montreal next month. Currently 14th on the team roster, the top-6 after this week’s BMW Championship will secure automatic spots, with captain Mike Weir naming six more picks after the TOUR Championship.
Compatriots Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An, who are 10th and 15th respectively on the FedExCup rankings, are virtually assured of teeing up at the TOUR Championship, which will use a staggered-scoring format based on positions after this week.
Irrespective of how his week plays out, Kim is pleased to secure his top-50 status, which guarantees starts in all eight Signature tournaments next season.
–IANS
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New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) The packed schedule of men’s county cricket in 2025 will remain largely unchanged, despite concerns raised by the majority of players over the impact on their physical well-being.
According to a survey conducted by the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) earlier this season, more than 80 per cent of players expressed fears that the current schedule is too demanding and poses risks to their health.
However, despite these concerns, the 2025 schedule is set to continue as usual. Each county will still compete in a minimum of 14 County Championship matches, eight Metro Bank Cup fixtures, and 14 Vitality T20 Blast games. The changes for next season will be largely cosmetic, offering little relief for players concerned about the gruelling calendar.
The PCA has been advocating for adjustments that would spread out the T20 fixtures across the week, aiming to reduce tight turnarounds and introduce more consistent three-day breaks between Championship games.
“There’s definitely room for improvement in 2025 compared to 2024,” said Daryl Mitchell, the PCA’s interim chief executive, in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. “The schedule can definitely be managed better. Certainly, the Blast was very much looked at through a commercial lens, trying to squeeze as many games as possible into Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Utilizing the majority of the week is probably the way forward, trying to spread them out to give that time for recovery, travel, and preparation.”
The T20 Blast, in particular, has been the main point of debate when it comes to scheduling. The timing of the knockout stages has been a significant concern. In 2023, these stages were held immediately after the group matches in July, allowing counties to retain their overseas players. This year, however, the knockout stages will be pushed to September, giving clubs an extended six-week window to market and sell tickets for home quarter-finals.
While these adjustments offer slight improvements, the overall schedule remains packed, leaving many players apprehensive about how much more they can push themselves physically in the long term. Despite the calls for change, it appears that any significant reduction in the number of fixtures is unlikely in the future, with commercial considerations still driving much of the decision-making process around county cricket.
–IANS
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New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) After ending his T20I career with an elusive T20 World Cup title in Barbados, captain Rohit Sharma revealed that it was his dream to transform the team without thinking too much about the results.
Rohit-led Indian team ended the decade-long ICC title drought after beating South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 to lift their second title in the format. In 2023, the Men in Blue failed to win the World Test Championship and 2023 ODI World Cup under Rohit’s leadership after losing to Australia in the finals.
The swashbuckling opening batter also credited the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah, former head coach Rahul Dravid and chief selector Ajit Agarkar for their support in transforming the team and creating a fearless culture in the squad.
“It was my dream to transform this team and not worry too much about stats and results and also to make sure that we create an environment where people can go out and play freely, without thinking too much. I got a lot of help from my three pillars Jay Shah, Rahul Dravid and chairman of selector Ajit Agarkar. That was critical for me to do what I did. Obviously, not to forget players who came in at different points in time and helped the team to achieve what we have achieved today,” Rohit said in a video posted by BCCI on X.
On Wednesday, Rohit was awarded ‘Men’s International Cricketer of the Year’ while Dravid was accorded the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at Ceat Cricket Rating Awards 2023-24 in Mumbai. India’s batting stalwart Virat Kohli was named the ‘Men’s ODI Batter of the Year’ while on the bowling front, Mohammed Shami was awarded the ‘ODI Bowler of the Year’.
The 37-year-old batter finished as the second-highest run-getter in the T20 World Cup with 257 runs including three half-centuries and at a strike rate of 156.70. He played a major role in providing solid starts for the team on the slow pitches of the USA and the West Indies.
After lifting the title, Rohit joined Kohli to announce his retirement from the T20I. With 4,231 runs, Rohit is the leading run-getter in the format behind his teammate Kohli (4188 runs). Both batters will continue to play the other formats of the game. The duo last featured for India in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka earlier this month.
–IANS
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Gotemba (Japan), Aug 22 (IANS) A year after being the youngest ever to make the cut at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Kartik Singh, now 14 years of age, is the highest ranked among the four Indians set to take part in the 15th AAC to be held in Japan.
As of date Kartik is the highest ranked Indian at 199 while the other three players to have received the invitation for this prestigious event are Krishnav Nikhil Chopra and Vedant Sirohi, both past participants in the event and Rakshit Dahiya will be in the four-player team.
Kartik Singh has also been named to the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup team. A regular winner in junior and amateur events, Kartik will spearhead the Indian challenge.
Apart from India’s Kartik Singh, there are seven others named to the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup International Team. They are Joshua Bai, Warut Boonrod, Xihuan Chang, Rayhan Latief, Khanh Hung Le, Thangwin Lee, Anh Minh Ngyuyen,
As many as 113 players have been confirmed for the Championship, which will be held October 3-6, 2024, at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba in Gotemba, Japan. A full list of confirmed players can be found. The field will be 120 with a few more names to be added by the Organisers.
India’s best ever placing has been second place by Rayhan Thomas, who was runner-up in Sentosa, Singapore in 2018. The Dubai-based Indian Rayhan has since turned professional, and last week won his first pro title on India’s Professional Tour of India Tour.
Krishnav, who plays college golf in the US, is the son of former India cricketer turned commentator, Nikhil Chopraa, who often takes the role of a caddie for his son.
Created in 2009, the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship was established by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), The R&A and the Masters Tournament to further develop amateur golf in the Asia-Pacific region.
The champion will receive an invitation to compete in the 2025 Masters Tournament and The 153rd Open, while the runner(s)-up will gain a place in Final Qualifying for The Open.
The confirmed list which has players from 38 APGC member organizations is highlighted by defending champion Jasper Stubbs of Australia and four players representing China inside the top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking: Wenyi Ding (No. 4), Xihuan Chang (No. 36), Xiangyun Bai (No. 61) and Paul Chang (No. 97).
Ding finished runner-up to Stubbs in the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur while Xihuan Chang reached the semi-finals of the U.S. Junior Amateur in July.
Other top-100 participants include Vietnam’s Anh Minh Nguyen (No. 68) and Japan’s Rintaro Nakano (No. 78).
Notable past competitors include 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, and 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith. Over the Championship’s 14-year history, the Championship has served as a springboard to some of the world’s top players, including Matsuyama, Smith, Cameron Davis, Ryan Fox, Si Woo Kim, Satoshi Kodaira, Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Min Woo Lee, Keita Nakajima and C.T. Pan. Collectively, alumni of the Asia-Pacific Amateur have gone on to win 27 tournaments on the PGA Tour to date and more than 130 across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
As the host nation, Japan will lead the list of up to 43 APGC member nations represented with 10 players in this year’s field. A player from Japan has won four of the 14 editions of the Championship (Matsuyama/2010, 2011; Takumi Kanaya/2018; Nakajima/2021).
–IANS
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