‘Pehli jhalak main Anant Ambani laga’ – Fans react as Rishabh Pant attends Delhi’s first home match in Indian T20 League 2023

Rishabh Pant was a special guest at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday during Delhi’s first home game of the Indian T20 League 2023 against the Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat. The regular Delhi captain and wicketkeeper-batter is currently recovering from injuries suffered in a car accident late last year.

Pant was seen driving into the venue and then slowly walking towards the stand. Later, he was photographed from the stands, watching the game. He also met with Parth Jindal, the owner of the Delhi team, and Rajiv Shukla, the former chairman of the Indian T20 League. An image of Pant from the stands has gone viral over the internet.

The Delhi team hung their skipper’s jersey No. 17 on the roof of the dugout during their first game against Lucknow as a gesture that Pant is “always with the team in spirit.” However, an Indian T20 League source told the news agency PTI that the Indian Cricket Board had made it clear that such a gesture was “a bit over the top” and “uncalled for.”

“It seemed a bit over the top. Such a gesture is reserved in case of ultimate tragedy or retirement. In this case, it was neither. Rishabh is well and truly on his way to recovery faster than one expected. So while it was done with a noble intention, it is learnt that BCCI has politely told the franchise to avoid such gesture in future,” the source said.

Everyone will have Pant’s jersey number inscribed on their jerseys: Indian T20 League source

It is believed that the display of Pant’s jersey from the dugout was the idea of head coach Ricky Ponting. Delhi will pay tribute to Pant by inscribing his jersey number on all players during one of the games when the team will be wearing a different colour. The jersey number, however, will be inscribed in one corner and will not conflict with the players’ individual jersey numbers.

“Every season, DC wears a different jersey during one particular game. In that game, everyone will have Pant’s jersey number inscribed on their jerseys. However there is specific rule for logo and it will be a small inscription in one corner,” the source said.

Here is how Twitter reacted

https://twitter.com/01AJEETH_K/status/1643265989013037058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1643265989013037058%7Ctwgr%5E529207507df01ead6326bb60a9b1bba489b1cc75%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2F01AJEETH_K2Fstatus2F1643265989013037058widget%3DTweet

Anything for PR and publicity.

— moodalapalya share auto (@deshmukhnaveen) April 4, 2023

It pains to see him like this…wish for his speedy recovery

— Bhushan Chandak (@bhushan_2205) April 4, 2023

Pehli jhalak main Anant Ambani laga

— Rahul (@imsalunkerahul) April 4, 2023

https://twitter.com/esafzy/status/1643264158744428547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1643264158744428547%7Ctwgr%5E830e691d84fc8965a0a1f23e98f7d7aa69e75e96%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Fesafzy2Fstatus2F1643264158744428547widget%3DTweet

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@DelhiCapitals ki jaan @RishabhPant17

— Abhinav singh (@Abhinav_tmk) April 4, 2023

Wish him speedy recovery. Love to see him with his big wicket keeping gloves on the field standing behind the stumps. And also play a lot many Gaba kind of knock from his bat.

— Rajeev Mullick (@rmulko) April 4, 2023