The Swashbuckler! On his day, Rishabh Pant can tear apart attacks in no time, and we’ve seen him do that numerous times on the big stage of the IPL

One of many uber-talented young players to come out of the Delhi franchise, Rishabh Pant came into the limelight when he opened the batting for India in the 2016 edition of Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh and lit up the tournament with a 24-ball 78 against Nepal to record the fastest half-century of the tournament. He followed it up with a century against Namibia to help India qualify for the semi-final.

A year after making his Ranji Trophy debut at the age of 18 in 2015, Pant broke records by scoring a triple-hundred against Maharashtra and a blistering 48-ball hundred against Jharkhand in 2016-17 first-class season.

Pant plundered 97 runs off just 48 deliveries against Gujarat Lions in 2017 to announce his arrival in the IPL. He scored 684 runs at a strike rate of 173.60 to finish as the second-highest run-scorer in IPL 2018, his best season to date. His devastating innings of 128* from just 63 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Feroz Shah Kotla in 2018 was one of the highlights of the season then.

The southpaw started the 2019 IPL season just where he’d left off in 2018, with a blitz of an innings (78* off 27) at the Wankhede in Delhi’s opening game of the season. He churned out consistent batting performances through the season and his 488 runs played a vital role in helping Delhi Capitals reach the playoffs for the first time in seven years.

After IPL 2020, Rishabh Pant gave the world a taste of what the next 10-odd years of international cricket could look like with his game-changing performances! On the tour of Australia in 2021, the Delhi skipper played an instrumental role in India’s historic and comeback series victory. The southpaw scored a quickfire 97 in the draw at Sydney and backed it up with a match-winning unbeaten 89 at the seemingly unbreachable fortress at Gabba in a thrilling Day 5 chase.

Handed the captaincy reins ahead of IPL 2021 season, the wicket-keeper batter guided Delhi Capitals to the qualifiers, their third successive entry in the knockout stages of the IPL.

Ahead of the new season, the Delhi dasher is now an established all-format player in the Indian team and will hope to script history by leading Delhi Capitals to their elusive IPL title!