Sports
IPL 2024: Excitement & jubilation in fans on a high as Rishabh Pant marks his cricket comeback
Mullanpur, March 23 (IANS) On Saturday afternoon at the new Mullanpur stadium, when Rishabh Pant makes his long-awaited return to competitive cricket after 455 days, fans will be filled with immense excitement and jubilation. They will be delighted to witness the comeback of one of the most cheerful figures in the sport’s current era.
The return of Pant to competitive cricket, particularly following a life-threatening accident and multiple sustained injuries, including the reconstruction of his right knee ligaments, is a momentous occasion, as it is uncommon to witness athletes making a comeback after surviving and enduring such a grave and near-fatal ordeal.
Pant, in his post-accident state, continues to exude a glowing smile and cheerful demeanor. However, he now places more significance of living with gratitude in the present moment, savoring the small joys of life, and eagerly embracing the chance to play his beloved sport with renewed happiness. IANS had an exclusive conversation with three passionate Rishabh Pant fans regarding him taking a fresh guard in his cricketing career.
Ayan Mustafi – the heart warrior who got a wish from Pant on his birthday
“I am feeling happy and very excited about his return,” quips seven-year-old Ayan when asked about his thoughts on Pant’s comeback. Apart from his favourite player’s return to the field, Ayan’s interest lies in awaiting the order of a DC jersey which bears Rishabh’s name and number, which he later intends to wear to his school for early morning cricket practice.
“He was chubby and a natural left-handed batter and he started loving Pant from the time he was 3.5 years old, when the 2021 Gabba Test happened. He was watching that game with me and though he was too young to understand anything, I would tell him, ‘Rishabh Pant maar raha hai’ (Rishabh Pant is hitting boundaries).”
“It was one of those moments where Ayan was clapping and he started to take more interest in the way he batted. Pant made him interested in cricket and he just wanted to be like him,” recalls his father Suvajit Mustafi.
When that unfortunate accident happened with Pant on December 30, 2022, Suvajit recalls Ayan was extremely distraught. “Through somewhere, he managed to see the pictures and didn’t react as he was processing all of it. Over a period of time, he would ask questions of whether he would walk or play again, as it was definitely affecting him. I told him to keep praying to God, which he did.”
On February 27, 2023, Ayan turned six and Suvajit thought of posting his batting video on X, with an aim to put out a cheerful post and requested if Rishabh could send get a birthday wish. To the father-son duo’s surprise, Rishabh did send birthday wishes for Ayan by commenting, “Happy birthday Ayan . Have a great year (two happy and cake emojis).”
“I didn’t know it would go viral as Rishabh replied to him via X, then people started to comment on those posts and till date, I get notifications about that post. That reply from Rishabh meant a lot to him and he said ‘okay, it’s my birthday, I got a wish from him’. Some friends around him also started to say, ‘You got a birthday wish from Rishabh Pant!’.
“I was told by a friend that the post had been picked by many media houses. Ayan also started to realise that getting a birthday wish from Rishabh was a very pretty big deal. Later, Ayan asked whether Rishabh had written it and if he had called me. I told him, ‘When you grow up in life and be a cricketer like him, you will get to talk to him’,” recalled Suvajit.
Ayan has undergone many health interventions in his young life. He’s a heart patient with only two heart valves, unlike most people who have three valves. He has undergone three surgeries already, and at some point, he will need another operation to add that missing third valve.
“Ayan would say, ‘I was operated upon too and have taken to playing the sport. So, Rishabh bhaiya will also play the sport after he recovers’. He would ask during every DC game in IPL 2023 if Rishabh was playing and he was happy to see him be in stadium for DC-GT game at Delhi. His interest for Rishabh is so much that Spiderman is his favourite cartoon,” added Suvajit.
Ayan would keep track of Rishabh’s recovery when Suvajit showed him videos of him walking with ease and doing other things related to his recovery. Out of the blue, before sleeping in the night, Ayan would ask Suvajit, ‘Is Rishabh bhaiya practising now? Is he batting now?’
“Rishabh is more of an emotion for Ayan now. Through Rishabh, our son can dream of being a cricketer and though we don’t know if he will be one, all of this means a lot.”
“All doctors at Apollo Hospital in Mumbai, where his interventions were done, call Ayan ‘Miracle Baby’ and co-incidentally, Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala called Rishabh ‘Miracle Man’ in that video on bcci.tv. I was left surprised and thought ‘Another big co-incidence’,” adds Suvajit.
When Sourav Ganguly said last year that Rishabh could play IPL 2024, Suvajit put it in Ayan’s mind that he will play the tournament. “Whenever DC played WPL games this year, Ayan watched those games and even asked, ‘Is Rishabh bhaiya coming to watch these games in stadium?’”
“Whenever he plays with his friends, he says he’s Rishabh Pant and when Ayan’s birthday came this year, I showed him some bats and he picked an SG bat. I persuaded him to see other bats, considering their size, but he picked SG bat by saying, ‘Rishabh Pant plays with this bat too, so I will take this bat only’.
For now, the father-son duo are excited to see Rishabh play cricket again. “I am keeping my fingers crossed on his return to the game. What I feel is if he’s back in the Test team for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and settled into the cricketing rhythm and the load around it, nothing greater than that.”
Luvpreet Singh – from being at the same camp with Pant to itching for seeing his return
In 2015, before the domestic season began, Luvpreet was playing for Delhi U16 team, and was at a camp in Feroz Shah Kotla when he saw Rishabh, who was in the Delhi U23 side. “By then, everyone in Delhi cricket circuit knew about him like, ‘Look, he’s that left-handed batter from Sonnet Club who plays attacking cricket’.”
“I was quite young at the camp and to be very honest, there are players in camps who get tensed about selection and I was one of them. Then, there are chilled people like Rishabh who just walk into nets and hit the bowlers out of park from first ball itself.”
“He spoke to boys of my batch who were from Sonnet Club. I remember Ayush Badoni was with me and he had a nice friendship with Rishabh that time. I talked to him about Rishabh and he said, ‘He’s a great guy to talk to,’ but I didn’t have the courage to talk to him,” recalls Luvpreet about his vivid memory of Pant.
As Pant rose through the ranks, starting from U19 World Cup to the 2021 Border-Gavaskar Trophy win at the Gabba, Luvpreet couldn’t continue playing the sport and now works as an engineer, but became an ardent follower of the wicketkeeper-batter. When the accident happened, Luvpreet initially thought it was fake news, but was left totally shaken over it coming true.
“I literally followed everything related to it for the next few days till he was flown to Mumbai from Dehradun and was operated upon at the Kokilaben Hospital. I closely followed Instagram accounts of him and Indian cricket team to keep tabs on his recovery updates.”
“The videos of where he posted that he was crutches-free and was walking on his own, as well as of the one where he batted for some time at a game in a function (of JSW on Independence Day) followed by keeping practice and running at full speed, I saw all of that and felt very heartening to see about his recovery progress,” he said.
When the official BCCI update came on Pant’s return being cleared as a wicketkeeper-batter on March 12, it brought immense joy and relief for Luvpreet. “There were reports on him being made to play as an impact player or be a specialist batter, which felt very off. But him returning as keeper-batter, I am definitely sure he will be much more mentally stronger and tougher, while itching to be out there on the field.”
“To be honest, I never thought he would recover in such a short span of time. Having been an athlete for a brief part in my life, I know how injuries can hurt you physically and mentally. I also saw the Miracle Man videos talking about his recovery and I was left very shocked over the details of his injuries from which he recovered completely. Just hats off to him for the kind of recovery he’s made to return to the game,” he adds.
Hours ahead of Pant’s return to competitive cricket, Luvpreet feels his comeback feels like a very personal triumph. “I have seen him bat right at the nets where I practised my bowling. To now see him on the verge of returning to the game after following every bit of his career and recovery, it feels very great and means a lot.”
“We should give him time to be at his best and he will be even better at playing than what he was before. I am now keeping an eye out for DC’s IPL 2024 games in Delhi and whenever tickets are up, I am going to buy them so that I can see Rishabh in action live.”
Ankit Kumar – the enthusiast who sees glimpses of Sehwag, Dhoni & Raina in Pant
The day Pant smashed that whirlwind 18-ball fifty against Nepal in 2016 U19 World Cup, Ankit wondered who this swashbuckling batter was. “When I saw that innings, I was like, ‘Who’s this guy playing in the style of Virender Sehwag?’. But then he continued scored runs in a heap.”
“When he peaked in IPL 2018 to become Emerging Player of that season, I felt ‘nah, he’s the player to follow from the next generation of cricketers’. I view Rishabh Pant as a mixture of my three favourite players in on and off field ways – Sehwag, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni and there was no looking back in being his fan,” recalls Ankit.
On the morning of that accident, Ankit saw a post on X which read as, ‘Get well soon Rishabh Pant’, and felt it was about him being rested from the white-ball series against Sri Lanka in January due to a niggle for which he was slated to go to National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for healing process.
“I thought it was related to that he should get well soon in time for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in February-March. But when I scrolled the feed more, seeing those pictures of the car left me shocked and my mood was totally off for two-three days. The only thing I cared for was ‘he should be fine at any cost and rest will be seen later’.”
On August 15, 2023, Ankit stumbled upon a video of Pant batting at a JSW Independence Day function, prompting thoughts of his return to the game. “I began to feel like the old Rishabh Pant is coming back. I also regularly followed his social media posts to track his recovery, as many were making multiple assumptions on his layoff time, ranging from six months to two years.”
“Plus, when he was seated at the auction table in December last year, I started to feel that he will be back to playing soon in the tournament at a some stage. The willpower he’s shown in recovery and the ability to return back from any situation gives a lot of hope.”
The rush of excitement and happiness that Ankit feels on Pant’s comeback reminds him of the emotions he felt when Yuvraj Singh staged a remarkable comeback after battling cancer in 2012.
“That day, I was roaming all around saying, ‘Yuvraj is back, Yuvraj is back’. So, similar kind of excitement vibes I am getting for Pant’s return and I wish for him to take his time in building up his playing workload till the Border-Gavaskar Trophy arrives.”
–IANS
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Bengaluru, Aug 22 (IANS) Shivamogga Lions’ woes continued as they suffered a 28-run defeat to the Mysore Warriors in the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
Mysore Warriors delivered a well-rounded performance, anchored by Karun Nair’s (45) swift knock, supported by a few other good contributions in the middle order, and highlighted by late-innings fireworks from J Suchith (22*) and Manoj Bhandage (23).
On the bowling front, Vidyadhar Patil (3/29) and Karthik CA (3/31) played crucial roles in restricting the Shivamogga Lions. Sharath HS’ (4/29) lethal spell with the ball and valiant efforts from Abhinav Manohar (46) and Nihal Ullal (46) with the bat couldn’t turn the tide in Shivamogga’s favour.
Chasing 180, Shivamogga Lions got off to a disastrous start, with Vidyadhar Patil’s lethal first over leading to the dismissals of Mohith Bangalore (2) and Dheeraj Mohan (0) in consecutive deliveries. Skipper Nihal Ullal (46) managed to crack a few early boundaries, but Hardik Raj (17) was also removed by Krishnappa Gowtham, leaving the Lions reeling at 41/3 by the end of the powerplay.
K Gowtham then engineered the run out of Rohan Naveen (11), further denting the chase. The in-form Abhinav Manohar (Impact Player) joined Ullal, and the duo breathed life into the innings, putting together a 70-run partnership in just 43 balls.
However, Ullal fell short of his first half-century of the season, leaving the Shivamogga Lions at 123/5 in 15.1 overs. Manohar also narrowly missed his milestone, holing out to K Gowtham off Karthik CA. Manohar’s 26-ball knock included four sixes and three fours, adding valuable runs to the total.
Karthik CA struck again two deliveries later, dismissing Shivraj S and leaving the Lions in deep trouble. With 47 runs needed from the final 18 balls, Ashok D tried to keep the chase alive by smashing a six and a four off Vidyadhar Patil, but perished in the same over, effectively ending Shivamogga’s prospects. Shivamogga Lions finished at 151/9 in 20 overs, enduring their sixth consecutive loss.
Batting first, Mysore Warriors faced an early challenge as Sharath HS unleashed a menacing spell. He struck in the powerplay, dismissing Karthik SU (8), and then returned in the seventh over to remove CA Karthik (30), who smashed three sixes in a 34-run stand with Karun Nair (45) and Harshil Dharmani (0).
Nair continued in fine touch and peppered the boundary with six fours and two sixes during his 23-ball stay before falling to Ashok D in the 11th over.
Kishan Bedare (17) steered the innings, forming a 28-run partnership with Nair and adding another 29 runs with Sumit Kumar (28) before being caught and bowled by Bharath Dhuri, leaving the Warriors at 116/5 in 16.1 overs. The depth of Mysore’s batting lineup came to the fore as Manoj Bhandage and J Suchith launched a late assault.
Vasuki Koushik, tasked with the 18th over, began with a six and a four from Sumit Kumar. Bhandage then took charge, hammering three consecutive sixes off Koushik in the same over before falling as Sharath’s fourth wicket in the 19th ending a blistering 23-run cameo off just seven balls. J Suchith, carried on the momentum, smashing two sixes and a four in an 8-ball flurry, pushing the Mysore Warriors to a competitive 179/7 in their 20 overs.
Brief scores: Mysore Warriors 179 for 7 in 20 overs (Karthik CA 30, Karun Nair 45, Sumit Kumar 28; Sharath HS 4-29) beat Shivamogga Lions 151/9 in 20 overs (Nihal Ullal 46, Abhinav Manohar 46 runs; Vidyadhar Patil 3-29, Karthik CA 3-31) by 28 runs.
–IANS
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Castle Rock (Colorado), Aug 22 (IANS) Indian Americans Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia who failed to make it to the Top-10 last week at the St Jude Championships, the first of the three Play-offs events, will be looking for a better showing as they move towards the finale at the Tour Championships after that.
Last week Hideki Matsuyama, after leading by five at one time, had to birdie the last two holes to win the St Jude Championships. He became the first Asian to win a Play-off event and it was his 10th PGA Tour win, the highest from the continent.
Last week Bhatia was T-12, Rai was T-16 and Theegala was way behind in T-46, but all three have entered the second of the three Play-offs events.
World No, 2 Xander Schauffele, a two-time Major winner in 2024, was tied second last week with Viktor Hovland, while World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was fourth last week, though World No. 3 Rory McIlroy had a poor week in T-68 place.
Among Asians Korea’s Si Woo Kim has all to play for at the BMW Championship, the second of three FedExCup Playoffs events, in Colorado this week, with two big goals providing the drive for him to step up his game.
The four-time PGA TOUR winner tees up at Castle Pines Golf Club with the intention of breaking into the top-30 of the FedExCup points list and qualify for the Playoffs Finale, the TOUR Championship next week. Kim is presently ranked 44th after last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship.
A strong week is also required for Kim to keep alive his hopes of earning a spot in the International Team to face the U.S. Team in the Presidents Cup in Royal Montreal next month. Currently 14th on the team roster, the top-6 after this week’s BMW Championship will secure automatic spots, with captain Mike Weir naming six more picks after the TOUR Championship.
Compatriots Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An, who are 10th and 15th respectively on the FedExCup rankings, are virtually assured of teeing up at the TOUR Championship, which will use a staggered-scoring format based on positions after this week.
Irrespective of how his week plays out, Kim is pleased to secure his top-50 status, which guarantees starts in all eight Signature tournaments next season.
–IANS
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New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) The packed schedule of men’s county cricket in 2025 will remain largely unchanged, despite concerns raised by the majority of players over the impact on their physical well-being.
According to a survey conducted by the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) earlier this season, more than 80 per cent of players expressed fears that the current schedule is too demanding and poses risks to their health.
However, despite these concerns, the 2025 schedule is set to continue as usual. Each county will still compete in a minimum of 14 County Championship matches, eight Metro Bank Cup fixtures, and 14 Vitality T20 Blast games. The changes for next season will be largely cosmetic, offering little relief for players concerned about the gruelling calendar.
The PCA has been advocating for adjustments that would spread out the T20 fixtures across the week, aiming to reduce tight turnarounds and introduce more consistent three-day breaks between Championship games.
“There’s definitely room for improvement in 2025 compared to 2024,” said Daryl Mitchell, the PCA’s interim chief executive, in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. “The schedule can definitely be managed better. Certainly, the Blast was very much looked at through a commercial lens, trying to squeeze as many games as possible into Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Utilizing the majority of the week is probably the way forward, trying to spread them out to give that time for recovery, travel, and preparation.”
The T20 Blast, in particular, has been the main point of debate when it comes to scheduling. The timing of the knockout stages has been a significant concern. In 2023, these stages were held immediately after the group matches in July, allowing counties to retain their overseas players. This year, however, the knockout stages will be pushed to September, giving clubs an extended six-week window to market and sell tickets for home quarter-finals.
While these adjustments offer slight improvements, the overall schedule remains packed, leaving many players apprehensive about how much more they can push themselves physically in the long term. Despite the calls for change, it appears that any significant reduction in the number of fixtures is unlikely in the future, with commercial considerations still driving much of the decision-making process around county cricket.
–IANS
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New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) After ending his T20I career with an elusive T20 World Cup title in Barbados, captain Rohit Sharma revealed that it was his dream to transform the team without thinking too much about the results.
Rohit-led Indian team ended the decade-long ICC title drought after beating South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024 to lift their second title in the format. In 2023, the Men in Blue failed to win the World Test Championship and 2023 ODI World Cup under Rohit’s leadership after losing to Australia in the finals.
The swashbuckling opening batter also credited the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah, former head coach Rahul Dravid and chief selector Ajit Agarkar for their support in transforming the team and creating a fearless culture in the squad.
“It was my dream to transform this team and not worry too much about stats and results and also to make sure that we create an environment where people can go out and play freely, without thinking too much. I got a lot of help from my three pillars Jay Shah, Rahul Dravid and chairman of selector Ajit Agarkar. That was critical for me to do what I did. Obviously, not to forget players who came in at different points in time and helped the team to achieve what we have achieved today,” Rohit said in a video posted by BCCI on X.
On Wednesday, Rohit was awarded ‘Men’s International Cricketer of the Year’ while Dravid was accorded the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at Ceat Cricket Rating Awards 2023-24 in Mumbai. India’s batting stalwart Virat Kohli was named the ‘Men’s ODI Batter of the Year’ while on the bowling front, Mohammed Shami was awarded the ‘ODI Bowler of the Year’.
The 37-year-old batter finished as the second-highest run-getter in the T20 World Cup with 257 runs including three half-centuries and at a strike rate of 156.70. He played a major role in providing solid starts for the team on the slow pitches of the USA and the West Indies.
After lifting the title, Rohit joined Kohli to announce his retirement from the T20I. With 4,231 runs, Rohit is the leading run-getter in the format behind his teammate Kohli (4188 runs). Both batters will continue to play the other formats of the game. The duo last featured for India in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka earlier this month.
–IANS
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Gotemba (Japan), Aug 22 (IANS) A year after being the youngest ever to make the cut at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Kartik Singh, now 14 years of age, is the highest ranked among the four Indians set to take part in the 15th AAC to be held in Japan.
As of date Kartik is the highest ranked Indian at 199 while the other three players to have received the invitation for this prestigious event are Krishnav Nikhil Chopra and Vedant Sirohi, both past participants in the event and Rakshit Dahiya will be in the four-player team.
Kartik Singh has also been named to the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup team. A regular winner in junior and amateur events, Kartik will spearhead the Indian challenge.
Apart from India’s Kartik Singh, there are seven others named to the 2024 Junior Presidents Cup International Team. They are Joshua Bai, Warut Boonrod, Xihuan Chang, Rayhan Latief, Khanh Hung Le, Thangwin Lee, Anh Minh Ngyuyen,
As many as 113 players have been confirmed for the Championship, which will be held October 3-6, 2024, at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba in Gotemba, Japan. A full list of confirmed players can be found. The field will be 120 with a few more names to be added by the Organisers.
India’s best ever placing has been second place by Rayhan Thomas, who was runner-up in Sentosa, Singapore in 2018. The Dubai-based Indian Rayhan has since turned professional, and last week won his first pro title on India’s Professional Tour of India Tour.
Krishnav, who plays college golf in the US, is the son of former India cricketer turned commentator, Nikhil Chopraa, who often takes the role of a caddie for his son.
Created in 2009, the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship was established by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), The R&A and the Masters Tournament to further develop amateur golf in the Asia-Pacific region.
The champion will receive an invitation to compete in the 2025 Masters Tournament and The 153rd Open, while the runner(s)-up will gain a place in Final Qualifying for The Open.
The confirmed list which has players from 38 APGC member organizations is highlighted by defending champion Jasper Stubbs of Australia and four players representing China inside the top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking: Wenyi Ding (No. 4), Xihuan Chang (No. 36), Xiangyun Bai (No. 61) and Paul Chang (No. 97).
Ding finished runner-up to Stubbs in the 2023 Asia-Pacific Amateur while Xihuan Chang reached the semi-finals of the U.S. Junior Amateur in July.
Other top-100 participants include Vietnam’s Anh Minh Nguyen (No. 68) and Japan’s Rintaro Nakano (No. 78).
Notable past competitors include 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, and 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith. Over the Championship’s 14-year history, the Championship has served as a springboard to some of the world’s top players, including Matsuyama, Smith, Cameron Davis, Ryan Fox, Si Woo Kim, Satoshi Kodaira, Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Min Woo Lee, Keita Nakajima and C.T. Pan. Collectively, alumni of the Asia-Pacific Amateur have gone on to win 27 tournaments on the PGA Tour to date and more than 130 across the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
As the host nation, Japan will lead the list of up to 43 APGC member nations represented with 10 players in this year’s field. A player from Japan has won four of the 14 editions of the Championship (Matsuyama/2010, 2011; Takumi Kanaya/2018; Nakajima/2021).
–IANS
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