IPL 2020: ‘Rishabh Pant out of action for at least a week’, says DC captain Shreyas Iyer

IPL 2020: ‘Rishabh Pant out of action for at least a week’, says DC captain Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer (L) and Rishabh Pant

Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Shreyas Iyer has confirmed that their star wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will be out of Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 for at least a week. Pant injured his leg during the clash against Rajasthan Royals on Friday in Sharjah.

The youngster also missed the game against Mumbai Indians on Sunday. Delhi lost the match by 5 wickets. Iyer at the post match presentation said that the doctor has advised Pant to rest at least a week.

“We have no idea, I spoke to the doctor. He said he has to rest for a week. Hope he comes back really strong,” Iyer said when asked about Pant.

The upcoming matches of Delhi over the next week are against Rajasthan Royals (October 14) and Chennai Super Kings (October 17). In the absence of Pant, the franchise had brought Alex Carey as the wicketkeeper. They dropped Shimron Hetmyer while Ajinkya Rahane batted at No. 3.

Delhi managed to score only 162 for 4 in allotted 20 overs due to lack of batting in the middle order. Shikhar Dhawan scored 69 runs off 52.

‘We need to work on our mindsets before the next game’: Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer

Furthermore, Iyer said that they were 10 runs short. He also mentioned the run out of Marcus Stoinis in the 17th over as the reason.

“I would say 10-15 short, 170-175 on the board would have looked completely different. We missed out when Stoinis got out, he was hitting the ball well and also seeing the ball like a football, that was the main error that we did and something that we need to work on,” he said.

“Apart from that the effort we put on the field, we could work on that as there were a few misfields and dropped catches as well. Overall they outplayed us in all the departments.

Iyer decided to bat first after winning the toss, aspiring that pitch would slow down in the second innings but it didn’t happen.

“We need to work on our mindsets before the next game. I thought the spinners were bowling well as the ball was coming onto the bat, it wasn’t stopping as it was in the first innings,” he said.

“If we could have squeezed in two more wickets after the powerplay we would have been on top. It is really important for us not to take any team lightly and be positive in our approach. There are still certain elements we have to work and we will use the break to work on that,” he added.

Also read: IPL 2020 MI vs DC: Half-centuries from Suryakumar, De Kock chase-down 163 run target of DC; MI move to the top of the table