IPL 2021: Rishabh Pant's old and new pictures with MS Dhoni's CSK melt hearts

Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper Rishabh Pant made an incredible debut as the captain of the side against mentor Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday. Pant’s amazing captaincy was supported by some good performances from his teammates, including Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan. After the match, two pictures of Pant started circulating on social media platforms, which netizens say perfectly captures the long and toiling journey taken by the cricketer to reach the spot where he is today. 

One of the pictures shows Pant slipping himself into a group of CSK players to get in the frame, which, looking at Delhi’s jersey, may have occurred after the final of the 2018 edition when Chennai had won their third IPL title and the then 20-year-old was invited to collect his emerging player of the year award. In the second picture, Pant could be seen returning to the dugout after finishing Delhi’s first IPL 2021 game against CSK with an amazing boundary as Chennai players, including MS Doni and some big names such as Suresh Raina, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, escorting him. 

Here is how netizens reacted to the viral pics:

Rishabh Pant's first game as captain

Rishabh Pant chose to bowl first after winning the toss against Chennai. Delhi's bowlers dismissed CSK openers in the powerplay to assert pressure on the Dhoni-led side. However, despite the early debacle, Moeen Ali and Suresh Raina steadied the innings for Chennai by forging a partnership of 50 runs. Ali was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin while playing a scoop shot over fine-leg. Raina continued batting with Ambati Rayudu and then Ravindra Jadeja to score an amazing half-century. After Raina was run out by Chris Woakes, Jadeja and Sam Curran took Delhi's bowlers for a ride to push Chennai from 137-6 to 188-7.

Delhi came in to bat in the second innings and openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw played incredible knocks to secure a win for the team. The duo forged a partnership of 138 runs before Shaw was dismissed by Dwayne Bravo. Shaw scored 72 off 38 balls at a strike rate of 189.47. Dhawan scored 85 off 54 balls before he was dismissed by Shardul Thakur. This was also the first 100-run partnership in IPL 2021. Skipper Rishabh Pant came in and took the game closer to the finishing lines with partner Marcus Stoinis before the former was dismissed with just 3 runs needed to win. Pant finished his first game as captain with an amazing boundary and showed why Delhi made it to the final last year.    

(Image Credit: Twitter)