Later, when Kuldeep Yadav was unhappy with a wayward throw, acting like he had suffered a mortal wound, Pant ran over to the bowler, put one hand around his shoulders and used the other one to stroke his chest. There there. Don’t worry. Be happy.

Finally, the stumpings. Especially the one that almost didn’t happen. Pant had seen that Shahrukh’s back foot was nowhere near where it needed to be.

Mukesh Kumar was the most effective of the Delhi Capitals bowlers with figures of 2.3-0-14-3•Apr 17, 2024•BCCI

He was beyond excited. That might have played a part in how he grabbed for the ball, hard-handed, and therefore couldn’t collect it cleanly.

But it didn’t matter because the ball just bounced off his gloves straight onto the wicket prompting child-like glee at how a mistake he’d made actually turned out okay.

This is why the world needs Rishabh Pant. A lot of his fans – and India fans – must be thrilled that he’s back playing cricket again because he is a game-changer.

But really, he’s so much more than that. He reminds people to smile. To enjoy themselves. To have fun. Just by smiling and having fun himself.

He had a good game as captain too, bringing back Khaleel Ahmed for a third over inside the powerplay to see if he could sneak a fifth Titans wicket.

That wasn’t possible but a maiden was. For some reason he bowled Stubbs ahead of Axar Patel which turned a score of 47 for 4 to 48 for 6. Pant spent the rest of the innings chirping away behind the stumps. It was like he was never even away. (ESPNcricinfo)