IPL 2023: With a heavily strapped right knee, Rishabh Pant makes first public appearance since car accident

“He will sit with the team owners. We have arranged a golf cart, and made a makeshift ramp for him as he will be on a wheelchair. We are excited to welcome our boy back. It will be good for the fans to get a glimpse of Pant and it will boost the team’s confidence as well,” a DDCA official told The Indian Express before the match.

Look who’s here supporting the @DelhiCapitals – RP 17 🤌🤌#TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/56Dd0Tw7NE

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 4, 2023

In the build-up to the match, there was a heartwarming gesture from the fans as well with a certain section of fans carrying a big jersey of Pant in the stands.

In the opening game against Lucknow Super Giants, the DC team had hung their skipper’s jersey No. 17 on the roof of the dug-out as a gesture that he is “always with the team in spirit”.

Ahead of the tournament, head coach Ricky Ponting had said he would love to have Pant part of the team in any way possible.

“In an ideal world for me, he’d be sitting next to me in the dugout every match. But if that’s not possible, we’d like to make him part of the team in ways possible. We can have his number on our shirts or on caps. Just to make it clear that he’s our leader, even if he’s not with us,” Ponting had said during a team event in Delhi before the tournament got underway.

#WATCH | Cricketer Rishabh Pant arrives at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi as his team Delhi Capitals faces Gujarat Titans here. pic.twitter.com/Gx7l2oYrfi

— ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2023

On Tuesday, ahead of their first home match, the Delhi players had wished Pant a speedy recovery in a video released by the official Twitter handle of the franchise.

“I hope you are recovering well. Dekh raha hu tere videos ab dheere dheere chal raha hai (I have seen your videos you’re slowly being able to walk). Baby steps are coming now. Really happy to see how you are recovering,” Prithvi Shaw said in the video.

“We will be playing back in Delhi after 3-4 years. We will be missing you. I can see how well you are recovering. You are doing recovery pool for half an hour, so that’s a big thing,” Axar Patel said.

A few days ago, Pant had a special message for Delhi before they played their opening IPL match against the Lucknow Super Giants.

In a message, Pant wrote “I am 13 th player coz of impact rule otherwise would have been 12 th man,” under a Twitter post where the Delhi Capitals asked their fans to predict their starting lineup against LSG.