Capitals’ punt on Porel comes on the back of his first full season with Bengal in domestic cricket, where he impressed with his glove work but failed to make big scores across formats.
His three outings in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy brought him 22 runs, with one of those knocks being an unbeaten 20. He has slightly better returns in first-class cricket, having managed six half-centuries across 26 innings with a best of 73.
Sarfaraz Khan still Delhi Capitals’ front-runner?
With Pant unavailable – he’s recovering from injuries sustained in a serious car crash in December – the team management had sounded out Sarfaraz as early as January to be ready for the wicketkeeper’s role. It’s a role he’d carried out for Mumbai at the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s.
Phil Salt also in the running
With Capitals’ top-three set to be David Warner, Prithvi Shaw and Mitchell Marsh, it’s likely they may find it hard to fit Salt in in his preferred position (11 of his 15 T20I innings have come at Nos. 1-3), and this could play to Sarfaraz’s advantage.
Capitals begin their campaign on April 1 in an away fixture against Lucknow Super Giants.