Shah Rukh Khan appeared emotional as he embraced Rishabh Pant, likely applauding the Delhi captain’s incredible return to duty 15 months after a life-threatening traffic accident. Kolkata trounced Delhi by 106 runs on Wednesday, but the off-field festivities were the standout of the big game.
One of the highlights of Wednesday, April 3’s IPL 2024 match between Delhi and Kolkata in Visakhapatnam was the tearful post-match meeting between Shah Rukh Khan and Rishabh Pant. When Shah Rukh gave the wicketkeeper-batter a warm hug and a heartfelt forehead kiss, he was just as happy as any other Indian cricket fan to see a fit-again Pant. Shah Rukh and Pant were seen having a long conversation when the TV cameras did not cut away from the images.
Shah Rukh and Rishabh Pant were clearly enamored of one other because they were cheerful the entire time they were speaking. Satisfied with his remarkable recovery from the road accident, Pant was about to stand up when he noticed Shah Rukh approaching him on the field following the post-match rituals. The Bollywood actor encouraged Pant not to stand up.
Shreyas Iyer entered the conversation after Shah Rukh and other KKR ownership group members had a long discussion with Pant. Meeting and wishing each member of the two teams, the Bollywood star, who was in Vizag on Wednesday, spent more than fifteen minutes on the ground.
With his 25-ball fifty-five, which was his second consecutive fifty, Rishabh Pant struck 5sixes and four boundaries. He was a fantastic batsman. Delhi’s lone victory of the season came about largely because of Pant’s explosive 51-run effort against Chennai. But on Wednesday, his smooth strokeplay proved to be in futile as Delhi lost their 20 overs allotment for 166 runs.
Sunil Narine proved to the world earlier in the day that he is a proficient pinch-hitter at the top of the order in Twenty20 cricket by smashing a 37-ball 85. In his maiden IPL cricket match, 18-year-old Angkrish Raghuvanshi also let his bat do the talking, scoring a career-best 54 off just 27 balls. Rinku Singh and Andre Russell then made brief appearances to help KKR surpass the Himalayan score in Vizag.
