Rishabh Pant must take his time to heal properly: Sourav Ganguly
New Delhi (PTI): Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly says India's star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant "must take his time to heal properly" from his injuries, before launching his bid for a comeback to competitive cricket.
Pant was involved in a road accident in the early hours of December 30 as he was driving from New Delhi to Roorkee. He is currently recovering after undergoing treatment for his injuries.
Former India captain Ganguly said that the Delhi Capitals franchise, of which Pant has been the skipper in last few seasons, will definitely miss the wicketkeeper-batter in the upcoming Indian Premier League. Ganguly is serving as DC's director of cricket.
"I am sure that the national team is missing him as well. He's young and he has got a lot of time left in his career. He's a special player and he must take his time to heal properly. We wish him all the best and I'll meet him as well," Ganguly said in a release issued by the IPL franchise.
Ganguly has been keenly observing all the players during the pre-season camp at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here in the lead-up to IPL 2023.
Speaking about the season, he said, "It's been great to work with the boys and I am looking forward to the season starting. Net practice is good, but we want to get into match mode. And (coach) Ricky (Ponting) has been fantastic. He brings a lot of intensity during training."
When asked about David Warner, the Delhi Capitals captain for this season, Ganguly said, "David Warner is looking forward to leading the side. He's always up for the challenge and he's a great player. He has got a lot of runs and experience under his belt."
Delhi Capitals will take on Lucknow Super Giants in their first game on Saturday.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
