Page 45 - The Indian EYE 031524

SPORTS MARCH 15, 2024 | The Indian Eye 45

liamson where they went down to and Kolkata Knight Riders, respec-
Chennai Super Kings (CSK). tively. Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadi-
um will not be available to host the
Sunrisers Hyderabad appoint matches just days after hosting the
Pat Cummins as captain Women’s Premier League final on
March 17.
unrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on DC’s other fixtures till April 7
Monday announced star Aus- include a March 28 match against
Stralian cricketer Pat Cummins the Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur and
as their new captain for the Indian against the Mumbai Indians in Mum-
Premier League (IPL) season this bai on April 7.
year.
Cummins, who won the ICC India’s wait for KL Rahul
World Test Championship and ICC continues
Cricket World Cup with Aussies last
year as a captain, replaces South Af- or nearly a month, there has
rican batter Aiden Markram as the been uncertainty around In-
franchise’s captain. Cummins was Fdia’s wicketkeeper batter KL
brought by SRH for Rs 20.5 crores in Rahul’s fitness and his participation
the IPL auctions held last year, mak- in the final Test of the series against
ing him the second-most expensive England as well as in the upcoming
player in history. Indian Premier League (IPL) as the
Cummins has an excellent re- player continues to recover from a
sume as a skipper. Known for his quadricep tendon injury.
calm composure and several clutch According to ESPNcricinfo, Ra-
spells and knocks under pressure, the hul is now in London to visit a doctor
30-year-old pacer has led Australia in about his injury, which has kept him
15 ODIs, winning 12 and losing just out of the second, third, and fourth
three. He has also led Australia in 27 Tests against England after he played
Tests, winning 16, drawing five and the series opener in Hyderabad.
losing six. Key accomplishments of Rahul complained of stiffness in
this pacer as a captain include, win- his right quadriceps shortly following
ning the WTC title and the 50-over India’s loss in the first Test. The early
World Cup and also retaining the diagnosis from BCCI medical per-
Ashes in the UK following a 2-2 draw sonnel at the National
against England. Rahul’s IPL team Lucknow Su-
per Giants (IPL) are aware of his
Ganguly hails Pant’s inclusion improvement and confident about
in Delhi team the captain’s availability for the com-
petition, which begins on March 22,
ormer India skipper and Delhi according to ESPNcricinfo. The Su-
Capitals’ Director of Cricket per Giants play their debut match on
FSourav Ganguly expressed his March 24 at Jaipur, against the Ra-
feelings on Thursday ahead of the jasthan Royals.
Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 The wicketkeeper batter under-
as star wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant went surgery last year after “ripping
joined the Delhi Capitals squad. apart the tendon from quadriceps”
during fielding in an IPL match
Pant missed the IPL 2023 after against Royal Challengers Bangalore
(RCB) in May. Rahul missed not just
suffering multiple injuries in the rest of the IPL season, but also

a horrific car accident on De- Aussie captain Pat Cummins will now lead SRH in the IPL franchise the World Test Championship final
(held last June). Rahul then made
cember 30, 2022. a fine recovery, leaving his stamp of
He has worked very hard to make a ready and hopefully will play in IPL dominance in the Asia Cup and sub-
The 51-year-old asserted that comeback. He is confident and wants 2024. He looked very confident about sequently the World Cup 2023.
Pant’s inclusion is a really huge boost to play for Delhi Capitals and India. playing in the IPL 2024 which begins With much suspense on Ra-
for the Delhi Capitals side ahead of I am extremely happy he is back and from March 22. And that’s seriously hul’s participation in the fifth Test,
the IPL 2024. The southpaw further hope he gets through the season,” good news for us in Delhi and India,” Devdutt Padikkal is likely to make
said that he is extremely happy that Ganguly told Revsportz. the former left-hand batter added. his debut in Dharamsala, replacing
Pant is back in the squad. The former BCCI President fur- Pant has represented DC since an under-performing Rajat Patidar,
“It’s a huge boost for Delhi Cap- ther stated that Pant is looking very 2016 and scored 2,838 runs in 98 who was named as a replacement for
itals because Indian players are gold confident about playing in the 2024 matches at an average of 34.61 and a the veteran batter.
in the IPL. Obviously, he has not edition of the IPL, which is good strike rate of over 147, with a century With the five-match Test series
played much cricket and I hope he news for both DC and Team India. and 15 fifties to his name. in their bag by 3-1, India will lock
gets back to rhythm very quickly. It’s “I met him (Rishabh) in Banga- Delhi Capitals will be play- horns with England in the fifth and
been a while he is away from compet- lore recently for the inaugural game ing their home fixtures at Vizag on last match, starting from March 7 in
itive cricket, almost 17-18 months. of WPL. He was there. He is getting March 31 and April 3 against CSK Dharamsala.

www.TheIndianEYE.com