5 players Delhi Daredevils (DD) would want to retain for IPL 2018

#4 Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant is one of India’s brightest prospects

One of the brightest spots for Delhi Daredevils in the tenth edition of the IPL was Rishabh Pant. The left-hander has been rated highly by the fans ever since his exploits in the 2016 under-19 World Cup and the 2016-17 domestic season. A lot was expected from him going into the IPL and the wicketkeeper-batsman didn’t disappoint as he scored 366 runs in 14 innings at an average of 26.14 and an extraordinary strike-rate of 166, the second best by a batsman with at least 300 runs.

Extra cover: Rishabh Pant looks like a combination of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, declares Sachin Tendulkar

The left-hander wasn’t used very smartly by the team management as he was made to bat down the order in most of their matches and by the time he was promoted to No. 3, the season was all but over for the Daredevils.

The youngster from Delhi should be made to open the batting so that he can make full use of the field restriction overs and take the attack to the opposition straight away, something at which he has excelled in the past. A player like Pant should be made to face as many balls as possible instead of being wasted away at No. 5.

There were reports that Daredevils’ mentor Rahul Dravid advised the franchise to retain Pant and it remains to be seen whether they take heed of his advice.