(Reuters) – Rishabh Pant took some time to find his feet again in the Indian Premier League after returning from a near-fatal car crash but the Delhi Capitals skipper showed he is ready to take the brakes off by helping his side to their first win of the season on Sunday.
Pant scored 51 off 32 balls to help Delhi secure a 20-run win over reigning champions Chennai Super Kings. The 26-year-old returned to action in the IPL last month after recovering from a car accident in December 2022.
Pant had notched scores of 18 and 28 as Delhi lost their first two games of the season but his half-century was key to their win on Sunday.
“Yes, that one-and-a-half years was a wait but at the same time you’ve got to keep doing what you can as a cricketer and keep learning from it,” said Pant, who is also eyeing a place in the India squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in June.
“I think I always had self-belief that whatever happens in life, I need to be back on the ground. That was the thought process and I never thought about anything else.
“I thought I have to give myself enough time (to recover). At the same time I kept believing that I could change the match at the end.”
Delhi, who are seventh in the 10-team IPL, next play Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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