Rishabh Pant will miss IPL 2023, confirms Sourav Ganguly

Former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has confirmed that India wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will be missing the upcoming IPL.

Ganguly, who currently works as the director of cricket for Delhi Capitals, says the Indian keeper will be out of action after he suffered an accident.

Pant faced the accident on December 30 while travelling to his hometown Roorkee from Delhi. He escaped without any major internal injuries, but later scans revealed the player had multiple muscle tears in the knee.

Pant was moved to Mumbai for treatment and the player underwent knee surgery last Friday. Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala of the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital operated the Delhi Capitals captain and the player will be taking a minimum of four months to recover from the surgeries. He may take another two to three months to regain full match fitness.

"Rishabh Pant will not be available for the IPL. I am in connection with DC. Rishabh Pant's Injury will affect DC, " Sourav Ganguly said to reporters on Monday.

"It will be a great IPL. We will do well," he added.

Rishabh Pant is the captain of the Delhi Capitals and his absence means the franchise is now in search of a captain to lead them in the coming IPL. The Southpaw will also be missing a host of tournaments for India, which jeopardizes his involvement in the ICC World Cup later this year.

Also, the BCCI has come to aid Pant amid the time of distress. The Indian board announced they will pay the full IPL contract money to the player along with the annual contract money he is supposed to fetch from BCCI. Pant will be paid the full 21 crore by the board, which will be a welcome positive for the talented player.

It will be also a huge task for India to potentially identify a replacement for Pant if he misses the World Cup. With the injury timeline, it looks certain that the batter won't be making a return to the Indian side before the Asia Cup in September. India will have to be prepared for his absence and will have to provide opportunities to the backups. India have the likes of Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson waiting on the wings and it has to be seen how things pan out in the coming months.