Rishabh Pant left fuming, smashes bat on his pads after quiet IPL return as Harshal Patel makes up for drop catch.

Rishabh Pant was disappointed at himself after scoring just 18 off 13 on his return to action after 454 days. After 454 days, Rishabh Pant returned to competitive action as he featured in the IPL 2024 match on Saturday between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur in Chandigarh. This was Pant’s first outing with the bat after that horrific car accident in December 2022. At 4:06 pm on the sun-kissed Mullanpur venue, David Warner gloved a magnificently delivered slow bouncer from Harshal Patel and made his way back to the dugout even as the umpire wanted to take recheck the dismissal. Pant waited on the other side of the boundary rope, raring to enter the ground. As the Delhi Capitals captain made his way down to the crease, the PA announced, and the entire ground stood up to give a standing ovation to Pant. Even Shai Hope, the non-striker then, punched his bat twice to join in the applause. Pant did not show any major discomfort with batting, but did refuse a two twice in his first six deliveries, which is comprehensible given that he had reconstructed ligaments in his right knee and is avoiding himself to rush into difficult situations. On the seventh delivery he faced during his 13-ball stay, Pant rocked back to pull the tossed-up ball from Rahul Chahar over backward square. Harshal sprinted along the boundary ropes to grab the ball in air, but lost it in the sun as it went for a boundary. The fast bowler, however, redeemed himself in the next over with a superb slower bouncer as Pant arched back to ramp it over backward point, but ended up dabbing a dolly into the hands of Jonny Bairstow. Pant was left utterly furious at himself at the dismissal as he screamed in frustration and then smashed his bat on his pads before walking back to the dugout having scored just 18 runs. The cameraman later caught Pant all disappointed as he sat beside Ricky Ponting in the dig out with his hand over his face. Earlier in the match, after Delhi lost the toss, Pant admitted that his return was an “emotional” moment and that he only looks to enjoy it. “Really emotional time for me. Just want to enjoy the moment. Not thinking much. I think not worried about last season. Really exciting times. We have been preparing well,” he said. Delhi Capitals scored 174 for nine in 20 overs against Punjab with Hope top-scoring with his 25-ball 33.