Bengal wicket-keeper batter Abishek Porel has replaced Rishabh Pant in the Delhi Capitals team for IPL 2023. Rishabh Pant will be out of cricket for a few more months and Delhi franchise were looking at players like Abishek Porel to replace him in the squad. The 20-year-old wicket-keeper was able to impress Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting in the trials and now wants to gain as much experience from this opportunity.
Just like Rishabh Pant, Porel is a lefthanded attacking batter who does not think twice before sending the balls over the boundary line. Abishek has already played two seasons for Bengal and was a member of the ICC U-19 World Cup winning team in 2022.
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“This is a huge opportunity for me. I am looking forward to making good use of this opportunity and doing my best,” Abishek told Sportz Point in a telephonic interview after the arrival of the good news. Abishek has already spent lots of time with the current director of the Delhi Capitals team, Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly himself has given a few tips to the young left-hander to improve his game.
“I am trying to learn as much as possible from this journey. Sourav (Ganguly) sir, Ricky (Ponting) sir and (Shane) Watson sir has given me few tips and that has already made me a better batter,” Porel added. Ponting has told the youngster to be more expressive while Ganguly has advised him to make some small changes to his batting stance.
As per reports, Sarfaraz Khan will don the keeping gloves for Delhi Capitals for the first few matches in IPL 2023. However, with Abishek Porel in the squad, it will be very hard for the team management to keep him out of the eleven as a specialist keeper.
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“The team management will decide if I will play in the eleven or not. Mentally, I will be ready to take the opportunities if they come,” the keeper-batter expressed.
Although this is a huge opportunity for the young cricketer from Chandannagar, West Bengal, he does not want to put any pressure on himself. In fact, he wants to keep doing all the good things that have helped him come so far as a cricketer. “I do not want to put any extra pressure on myself. I want to keep doing what I have done so far in my career,” he added.
Abishek will have his brother Ishan to give him some knowledge about how it feels to play in the world’s biggest cricket league. Ishan Porel, Abishek’s elder cousin has already played for the Punjab Kings and will be there for him to share some wisdom and experience, whenever he needs it. “Yes, dada (Ishan Porel) called me and told me to have fun and not be nervous. This is just the start for me and he told me to do my best if my opportunity comes.”
Delhi Capitals will play their first match against Lucknow Super Giants on 1st April, 2023.
