As Rishabh Pant continues his recovery from the road accident earlier this year, his IPL team keeps their skipper in mind even as they've started their 2023 campaign.
During Saturday night's match against Lucknow Super Giants, Delhi's dugout was seen with Pant's number 17 jersey hanging on the dugout.
The franchise tweeted a picture of the jersey with the caption, 'Always in our dugout. Always in our team'.
With Pant out of the season, David Warner has been named the franchise's captain for this year.
Warner won the toss and chose to bowl first against Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium. Warner said that the players have sent their best wishes to regular skipper Rishabh Pant, who is still recovering from a car accident.
Lucknow Super Giants captain K.L Rahul said they are going into their first match without many expectations as they have not played too many games at their home ground.
However, he hoped that they would be able to build it into a fortress where home advantage will work for them.
"That's how most IPL teams work. They want to make their home ground their fortress. We're as clueless as the opposition. We haven't played here. We're going in with no expectations. For all you know, it might be a good batting wicket," Rahul said after the toss.
He hoped that the Impact Player rule turns out to be a good change for the game. "It's new (Impact Player). Still getting used to it. It gives teams a chance to be in the game or come back in the game. It's fun. Hopefully, it's a good change," said Rahul.
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