IPL 2018: Rishabh Pant Ends Season With 684 Runs. Is He Ready To Replace MS Dhoni In Indian Team?

IPL 2018: Rishabh Pant justified Delhi Daredevils' decision to retain him for Rs 15 crore as he ended the IPL season 2018 as Delhi's highest run-scorer

By: Karan Nanda |
May 20, 2018 7:16 pm

Delhi Daredevils (DD) wicketkeeper-batsman, Rishabh Pant justified the decision of his franchise to retain him for Rs 15 crore as he ended the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2018 as the highest run-scorer for Delhi. In his last league match of the season against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Ferozshah Kotla, Pant smashed 64 to end the season with 684 runs under his belt.

He played all the 14 league games for Delhi.

In this season, Pant was in his prime form with his bat. During IPL 2018, Pant scored one century and five half-centuries to his credit with 128 (not out) being the highest.

The most runs scored by a DD player in a VIVO @IPL season.

Take a bow, @RishabPant777! __#DilDilli #Dhadkega #DDvMI pic.twitter.com/RnGLQvzeDT

— Delhi Daredevils (@DelhiDaredevils) 20 May 2018

With his total, Pant became the first Delhi batsman to score more than 600 runs in an IPL season. On May 10, Pant also became the first Indian to score a ton in this IPL season. He scored unbeaten 128 off 68 balls.

In the 11th edition of the IPL, Pant (1248) also surpassed Gautam Gambhir (1182) to be the 4th highest scorer for DD after Virender Sehwag (2174), David Warner (1435), and Shreyas Iyer (1218).

FIFTY!@RishabPant777 is a GENIUS! WHAT A PLAYER!#DilDilli #Dhadkega #DDvMI pic.twitter.com/HWf7PpKj1O

— Delhi Daredevils (@DelhiDaredevils) 20 May 2018

Following his impressive performance, 20-year-old Pant is also leading the race to bag the ‘Emerging Player 2018 Award’ with 30 percent of votes in his favour.

Here are some of his IPL 2018 stats:

128 not out — Highest individual score for DD

162.71 — Second-highest strike rate overall for DD

67 sixes — 2nd batsman to hit most sixes for DD after Virender Sehwag (85)

102 runs — Most runs from boundaries (fours and sixes) in an innings for DD – 15 fours and 7 sixes

Youngest to complete 1000 runs in the IPL

Rishabh Pant is the 31st batsman (13th Indian) in IPL history to score a hundred!

68 fours — These many boundaries have been hit by Rishabh Pant in this season which is also the highest by any batsman so far.

37 sixes — These many sices have been hit by Pant in this season which is also the highest by any batsman so far.

Century in 56 balls — Pant became the second-fastest batsman to score a century in this season

Meanwhile, Delhi failed to qualify for the playoffs this season.