Rishabh Pant takes over Delhi captaincy from Gautam Gambhir

What’s the story?

Emerging wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has replaced Gautam Gambhir as Delhi captain for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy. Delhi selectors Atul Wassan, Nikhil Chopra and Robin Singh decided to give the leadership mantle to the 19-year old with one eye on the future and to reduce the veteran left-hander’s workload in the twilight of his career.

Chopra said, “Frankly Vijay Hazare is the last tournament of the season and this was an ideal opportunity for us to see who is the best candidate to lead the state side. We were not finding anyone all these years who could replace Gautam. The Hazare Trophy gives us opportunity to test Rishabh's captaincy skills and with Gautam and other seniors around, he will get ample guidance. Obviously Atul (Wassan) has spoken to Gautam and he has been taken into confidence.”

The Context

Pant, a product of India’s U-19 system, has rapidly established himself as one of the most promising young talents in the country. Known for his attacking stroke-play, the southpaw took the 2016/17 Ranji Trophy by storm with 972 runs from 8 matches at an average of 81.00 and a strike-rate of 107.28.

The national selectors took into consideration his incredible form and rewarded him a place in India’s T20I squad for the recently completed 3-match series against England.

The heart of the matter

Pant received his maiden India cap during the third T20I at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Coming into bat during the penultimate over, he did not get to spend much time in the middle and had to settle for a 3-ball 5.

The left-hander was included in the India ‘A’ team to face Bangladesh in a warm-up game at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad. However, his youthful exuberance got the better of him and he succumbed for an 11-ball 19.

With Delhi elevating him to the role of captaincy, he has a massive opportunity to showcase his potential in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In the presence of senior names like Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan and Ashish Nehra, his leadership skills should grow to a significant extent.

What’s next?

The 2017 edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy is set to begin on the 25^th of this month. Delhi will kick start their campaign in the 50-overs tournament by taking on Tamil Nadu in Cuttack. Before that, Pant will turn out for North Zone under Harbhajan Singh’s captaincy in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Sportskeeda’s Take

Delhi’s decision to give leadership exposure to Pant is certainly a commendable one. With the youngster likely to be called up to the Indian team on a regular basis, a captaincy stint in the domestic circles will give him immense confidence and thus play a pivotal role in his development as a top-notch cricketer.