WATCH: Rishabh Pant Receives Standing Ovation On his Return to IPL in DC's Opening Game Against PBKS

After suffering a horrific car accident, Rishabh Pant has made his return after 15 months. The left-hander is back leading the Delhi Capitals side and has walked out to bat in their opening clash against the Punjab Kings in Mullanpur, Mohali.

As Pant walked out to bat, he received a standing ovation from the crowd, commending his resilience and determination to make a swift recovery. He had suffered a horrific car accident in December 2022 as he was driving back to his hometown in Roorkee. He had picked up a ligament tear in his right knee, cuts on his forehead and abrasions on his back as well which led to a prolonged absence from cricket.

The Capitals did miss their captain as they had a poor season last year as they finished ninth in the points table. However, it will be a fresh start for both the captain and the team as they aim to get back in contention for a playoff spot and potentially their maiden title as well.

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The left-hander was up to his usual self as he looked to go down on his knees to play the cut shot towards the third-man area but was unable to find the gap.

Luck seems to have been on Pant’s side as he managed to attack Rahul Chahar. Despite not timing it as well as he would have liked, he managed to strike it towards the square-leg boundary where Harshal Patel was unable to keep track of the ball coming towards him and gave away a boundary to kick-start his return.

READ MORE: PBKS vs DC Live Score and Updates

The Capitals have had a strong start to their innings as the Australian opening duo, Mitchell Marsh and David Warner started things off pretty quickly as they raised a 39-run partnership off 20 deliveries. Arshdeep Singh managed to get the wicket of Marsh while new signing Harshal Patel got the wicket of Warner.

READ MORE: ‘I Missed Him a lot’: Axar Patel Delighted as ‘Banter And Fun’ Resume With Rishabh Pant’s Return

Pant’s innings, however, came to an anti-climatic end as he was dismissed on a short delivery by Harshal who found the edge towards the short third man.

His team-mate in the national team, Suryakumar Yadav posted on X where he said,”Moment we all have been waiting for. Inspirational movies bahut dekhi hain par iss real-life story ka koi tod nai (Have seen a lot of inspirational movies but nothing is better than seeing this story in real life).

This particular fan had a unique way of seeing the emphatic return of India’s premier wicketkeeper-batter.

The return of the dynamic batter will be big news for the selectors as they will be keen to see how he performs and eventually take the call on whether he will receive the call-up for India’s squad for the T20 World Cup taking place in June, 2024 in the United States of America and the West Indies.