Delhi Capitals to replace Rishabh Pant with Bengal's star wicketkeeper for IPL 2023: Reports

Rishabh Pant is the biggest name to miss the upcoming 16th edition of the Indian Premier League. The DC skipper met with an unfortunate car accident on December 30 while going to his hometown from Delhi. He underwent a number of surgeries, including the key surgery.

Pant needed a rest of at least one year. It meant that DC would be left with no choice but to find a replacement for their skipper. Although the franchise has named David Warner as the captain for the season, Axar Patel will be his deputy.

But DC needs a specialist wicketkeeper replacement. And according to some reports, it has been learned that DC might sign West Bengal's wicketkeeper batter Abhishek Porel as the replacement for Pant in the coming season. However, apart from Porel, the franchise has three other options for wicketkeepers to choose from: Lavnith Sisodia, Sheldon Jackson, and Vivket Singh.

But Porel has had some impressive outings at the domestic level most recently. In 16 first-class games, he scored 695 runs at an average of 30.21. Speaking of his wicketkeeping, he has taken 58 catches and eight stumpings during this time.

Porel made his first-class debut against Baroda in February 2022. He did well in the knockout matches of the recently concluded Ranji Trophy tournament. Porel scored 51 against MP in the semi-final and followed it up with a 50-run knock against Saurashtra in the final.

However, it is Sarfaraz Khan who is expected to take on the wicketkeeping role in the playing XI for DC. He has been in the red-hot form of his life and has scored plenty of runs at the domestic level. But it will be a good chance for Porel to share the dressing room with some big stars and learn new things.

Earlier, DC head coach Ricky Ponting said that replacing Pant is just impossible. He said, "So when we talk about losing some power in the middle order, it was found that the batting of Aman Khan, Rovman Powell and Akshar Patel has improved a lot in the last 12 months. We are trying to find an alternative to Rishabh Pant, but it is difficult to find a player of his quality."