Delhi Capitals suffered a hug blow ahead of their season-defining Indian Premier League match against Royal Challengers Bangalore as captain Rishabh Pant has been suspended for one match for breaching IPL Code of Conduct. This huge development has sent shockwaves around DC squad as Pant is now unavailable to play the crucial IPL 2024 encounter against RCB, scheduled to start on Sunday, May 12, at 07:30 PM at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Rishabh Pant Suspended for One Game
Rishabh Pant finds himself on the rack because of the low over-rate his team kept during IPL match 56 against Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on May 07. DC did win that match by 20 runs and kept their playoff hopes alive, but now it seems, that that result came at a big cost.
IPL made the following statement public on Saturday. It reads as follows:
“As it was Rishabh Pant’s team’s third offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, Rishabh Pant was fined Rs 30 Lakh and suspended for one match. The rest of the members of the Playing XI, including the Impact Player, were each individually fined either Rs 12 Lakh or 50 per cent of their respective match fees, whichever is lesser.”
“As per Article 8 of the IPL Code of Conduct, the Delhi Capitals filed an appeal challenging the ruling of the Match Referee. Following this, the appeal was referred to the BCCI Ombudsman for review. The Ombudsman conducted a virtual hearing and affirmed that the decision of the Match Referee remains final and binding.”
Who Will Lead DC As Pant Is Suspended?
During the press conference on Saturday evening, Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting confirmed that Axar Patel will be leading the team in Rishabh Pant’s absence.
Axar has been vice-captain at this franchise for the last couple of seasons. A very experienced IPL player, an experienced international player, a sensible guy, understands the game really well. He’s excited about it. We started talking about it a couple of days ago when there was a possibility that Rishabh might be banned.”
Also Read: RCB vs DC Dream11 Prediction