Delhi Capitals (DC) captain Shreyas Iyer partially dislocated his shoulder while fielding in India's 66-run win over England in the 1st ODI on March 23.While initial reports suggested that he might miss 6-8 weeks of cricketing action, the injury may be more serious than imagined. Iyer might even be ruled out for 3-4 months, putting his participation in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the 2021 T20 World Cup in jeopardy. Rishabh Pant, who was the team's vice-captain last year, is the frontrunner for the role. Having been part of the franchise since 2016, he has a keen understanding of the team and its culture. According to sources in Delhi Capitals (DC), India’s biggest match winner in last 6 months Rishabh Pant is likely to be given responsibility to lead DC for the season.
As per a report in InsideSport.co DC promoters Kiran Kumar Gandhi and Parth Jindal in consultation with coach Ricky Ponting will take the final call soon. “Team is still garnering all information on status of Shreyas injury. Team promoters, head coach will take final call on who will lead us but obviously Rishabh Pant being the vice-captain should be the automatic choice”, said one of the source closely associated with Delhi Capitals. Delhi Capitals management is likely to announce name of the new captain before the end of this week. Earlier, today the news of Iyer's unavailability was confirmed by Delhi Capitals Co- owner Parth Jindal. "Absolutely devastated and gutted for our skipper @ShreyasIyer15 - stay strong captain - hope for a very quick recovery. Have full faith that you will come back even stronger from this. India needs you in the T20 World Cup " Jindal tweeted. With the IPL set to commence in just 2 weeks, it is highly unlikely that Iyer will play even in the second half of the tournament. Iyer had dived to his left in the field to stop the ball. While he did manage to cut runs off, he was holding the left shoulder in a lot of pain. He walked off holding the shoulder and Shubman Gill replaced him on the field.
