In a bad news for Delhi Capitals fan, skipper Shreyas Iyer on Sunday (October 11) confirmed that their injured wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant will miss Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 games for at least a week due to a leg injury. It may be recalled that Pant picked up the injury in Delhi's match against Rajasthan Royals in Sharjah.
Pant did not play in Delhi Capitals' Sunday's game against Mumbai Indians in which Delhi faced five wickets defeat against Mumbai Indians. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Iyer said that Pant has been advised at least a week's rest by doctors.
"We have no idea, I spoke to the doctor. He said he has to rest for a week. Hope he comes back really strong," Iyer said when asked about Pant.
Delhi Capitals are scheduled to play against Rajasthan Royals on October 14 and will clash with Chennai Super Kings on October 17.
In Pant's absence, Delhi gave chance to Alex Carey to keep the wickets and were forced to drop their middle-order star Shimron Hetmyer. Ajinkya Rahane came out to bat at No. 3 with a batting slot opening up.
Talking about the match against Mumbai Indians, Iyer said that they were 10 runs short at least and said that Marcus Stoinis' run out in the 17th over changed the course of the match.
"I would say 10-15 short, 170-175 on the board would have looked completely different. We really missed out when Stoinis got out, he was hitting the ball really well and also seeing the ball like a football, that was the main error that we did and something that we really need to work on," he said.
"Apart from that the effort we put on the field, we could definitely work on that as there were a few misfields and dropped catches as well. Overall they outplayed us in all the departments," added Iyer.
Iyer won the toss and decided to bat first hoping the pitch would slow down in the second half, but it did not happen as per his wish.
"We need to work on our mindsets before the next game. I thought the spinners were bowling well as the ball was coming onto the bat, it wasn't stopping as it was in the first innings," he said.
"If we could have squeezed in two more wickets after the powerplay we would have been on top. It is really important for us not to take any team lightly and be positive in our approach. There are still certain elements we have to work and we will use the break to work on that," remarked Iyer.
