Had Rishabh Pant been fit, the Delhi Capitals would have looked a little less worried and a bit more settled. The maverick wicketkeeper-batter and the captain’s services are being dearly missed by the franchise as they languish at the bottom of the table still searching for their first win of the season under the leadership of David Warner.
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Without Pant, DC’s core does not seem to have the bite and while his batting in the middle order is something that the franchise would trade for anything, surprisingly, it is his wicketkeeping that the Capitals seem to be missing more. While Pant’s injury after the auction came as a body blow and with no viable backup option to Pant in their ranks, Delhi began the campaign with Sarfaraz Khan behind the stumps.
A game later, Bengal’s Abhishek Porel found himself coming in as an Impact player and then in the playing XI. Sarfaraz’s keeping left a lot to be desired, while Porel – a specialist wicketkeeper – impressed with his glovework. But, from a batting point of view, Porel is still a long way away from being a finished product for IPL.
And now what’s the way forward this season? Has DC found a good match for Pant in Porel or Sarfaraz would return to keeping duties?
The team returns home in search of their first win this season. And coincidentally, their opponents – Mumbai Indians (MI) – too are looking for the same. Ahead of the DC vs MI clash at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday, assistant coach Pravin Amre addressed the press where he smartly dealt with the question asked by News18 Cricketnext.
Responding on the choice of keepers in the upcoming fixtures, Amre said, “That completely depends upon the bounce on the track or the opposition we will be playing against. For us, Porel being a left-hander is an advantage. But we also need to back Sarfaraz who has scored plenty of runs in the Indian domestic circuit and is a candidate for the Indian team as well."
Before concluding, he hinted at giving a long rope to Porel this season. The management seems to be pleased by the stumper’s performance in the last two encounters and hence, in all likelihood, the Bengal youngster will fill in for Pant at his home.
“And since we have been investing in players, we gave a chance to Porel, and the way he responded… we all can see that he has potential and thus, could be a good candidate for us," Amre concluded.
Nurturing talent is a time-taking process
Delhi has been investing in young blood and it’s safe to say that they are a youngsters-driven franchise. It’s been almost 5 years since Iyer took charge from Gautam Gambhir and a few years later, Pant took over. And not just the captains, but some of the main players of the team have come from age-group cricket. And it wasn’t all of a sudden but the hard work and backing for multiple seasons before breaking the big stage.
Amre proudly said that DC is the only franchise that believes in the country’s youth and is never afraid of backing them.
“We made it to the playoffs in past seasons and that was the hard work of 3 years. When Rishabh, Shreyas, and Prithvi just came from Under-19s, never played T20s but they managed to perform in IPL," Amre told reporters.
“Even in the mini-auctions before this season, we have given opportunities to several youngsters in our squad and we believe they will deliver for us," he added.
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About Abhishek Porel
The Bengal wicketkeeper-batter is a newbie in the Indian domestic circuit. After making his debut last year, in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, against Puducherry, Abhishek went on to play 16 First-class games, 3 List A and 5 T20 matches, including the 2 IPL matches.
He has scored 695 runs in 16 FC matches, 54 and 49 in List A and T20s, respectively.
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