Irfan Pathan advises DC to keep Rishabh Pant, wants KKR to retain Shreyas Iyer

Irfan Pathan said that the Delhi Capitals (DC) should work around retaining their premier wicketkeeper, Rishabh Pant, for the Indian Premier League (IPL). Pant has been with the franchise since 2016 after he impressed everyone with his aggressive batting in the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh, where India finished as the runners-up.

But as per reports, it has been learned that Pant might not be retained by the Capitals, who have reportedly retained Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs and Abhishek Porel. Irfan said that Pant is an asset given his incredible power-hitting and wicket-keeping skills.

“Hoping Delhi also works to keep Rishabh Pant—his potential as both a player and captain, along with his market value, is massive,” Irfan wrote.

Pant missed the 2023 edition of the IPL after he suffered a car accident at the Delhi-Dehradun highway late in December 2022 that kept him out of the game for one



and a half years. He returned to lead the Capitals in 2023, but could not take them through to the playoffs.

Pathan also said that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) would be at a “real loss” if they don’t retain their captain Shreyas Iyer for the upcoming season. It was Shreyas, who helped the Knight Riders end their 10-year long wait for winning an IPL title.

“If Shreyas Iyer isn’t retained after leading the team to an IPL title, it’d be a real loss,” Irfan added in his tweet.

If reports are to be believed, the Knights are unlikely to retain Shreyas Iyer, Mitchell Starc and Andre Russell. Instead, the three-time champions are most likely to go with Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana.

The Knights finished on top of the table in the league after which they went on to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Qualifier 1 and Final to get their hands on the trophy.