‘Was trying to sit in balcony during quarantine period’: DC’s Pant on getting acclimatized to UAE heat ahead of IPL 2021

For any professional cricketer, getting used to the conditions and the weather of any cricketing venue is a task in itself. Irrespective of the experience at hand, every tour requires a fresh start. Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant can vouch for it, who is doing everything possible to acclimatize himself to the UAE heat ahead of the resumption of IPL 2021. 

Swashbuckling Pant, who landed in the Gulf country a few days following the culmination of India’s Tour of England, admitted that he tried to get used to the hot conditions by spending most of his mandatory quarantine time in his hotel room balcony. Despite that, and in the words of his admission, he still felt the heat during his first training session.

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“It’s pretty hot here in the UAE. I was trying to sit on the balcony during my quarantine period as much as possible to get used to the conditions. But, it still felt quite hot when I took part in my first practice session here.

“I’m just trying to get used to the conditions now and hopefully, I will be fully acclimatised to the conditions in 2-3 days,” Pant said in a release issued by Delhi Capitals.

The wicketkeeper-batsman said that the team will look to continue its brilliant performance from the first half of the IPL 2021 season.

The Delhi Capitals are currently at the top of the table with 12 points from eight matches.

“Our ultimate goal is to win the trophy, but we are going to focus on our process. Hopefully, we can continue to play the way we did in the first half of the IPL 2021 season and we can go on and win the IPL trophy this year,” said Pant.

He has also expressed his excitement about meeting his teammates after completing his quarantine period.

“It’s really nice to meet everyone after coming out of quarantine. It’s been great meeting the teammates here in training.”

Delhi Capitals will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad on September 22, in their first match on resumption.

(With agency inputs)