IPL 2024 Auction: Captain Rishabh Pant To Be Present At Delhi Capitals Table During Bidding Process

Injured in a road accident last year, Rishabh Pant has been out of cricket for one year. He is set to make a comeback as captain of DC in IPL 2024.

Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Rishabh Pant will be present at the franchise's table alongside head coach Ricky Ponting and Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly on December 19 in Dubai. DC have 9 slots to fill in which 4 are reserved for overseas players. This is not the first time a captain will be there at the auction table. Earlier, Dinesh Karthik has been at the auction table when he was with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Usually, the CEOs of the franchise, the coaches and director of crickets are present at the auction. Pant's presence means that DC are putting full faith in him to make a comeback after recovering from injuries he sustrained in the road accident last year.

IPL's X account shared a video of Pant opening up on attending the first-ever IPL auction. Pant said that he always used to think of attending the auctions but did not know that it will materialise so soon. "I used to think someday I will sit on the table to help a team out somehow. I am lucky that I am able to do it. Hopefully, it will be an amazing experience. This is something new. Lots of love from the fans and hopefully we get what we want at the auction," said Pant.

Pant has been named as the captain of DC ahead of the IPL 2024. Australia's David Warner had replaced him in IPL 2023 as Pant was down with injuries. But Pant is likely to be at his fitness best by the time IPL 2024 starts likely by Match 2024. Revisiting the horrific accident and recovery, he said, "The kind of accident that I had I am lucky to be alive. It was quite challenging especially in the first part. In the starting, there was a lot of pain. But just looking forward to the journey from there to now, everything is going well to theis point."

The 26-year-old remembered his paycheque from IPL auction day. He said that the first IPL auction is always special for any player. "Every player will remember their first auction price. I went for Rs 1.9 crore and I really enjoyed that and loved being picked by Delhi Capitals," said Pant.

After playing so many matches for India and DC, Pant is about to make another debut, this time at he auction table. So, what are his thoughts on it? Is he nervous? "The nervousness is already there but I want to go in as an individual and come out of it with learnings," concluded Pant.