Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant tamed his nerves to return to action in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday after 15 months out following a car accident, but the wicketkeeper-batsman had to settle for an opening defeat by Punjab Kings.

Pant was involved in a near-fatal crash in December 2022 that required him to have multiple surgeries and he missed last year's IPL as well as India's 50-overs World Cup campaign on home soil.

The 26-year-old made a quiet comeback with 18 runs from 13 balls as Delhi scored 174-9 in 20 overs but his team fell to a four-wicket defeat after paceman Ishant Sharma's ankle injury left them short of experience in the death overs.

"Personally, I was pretty nervous but you have to go through this when you enter the field," Pant told the official broadcast about his much-awaited comeback. "But this isn't the first time you're feeling nervous.

"I'm happy about (returning) but at the same time, I think we had a par score. We were one bowler short because of Ishant's injury ... we can't do much about it."

Delhi assistant coach Pravin Amre said the team had missed Pant last season. The team finished second from bottom in 2023.

"As coaches we don't get emotional but this one was emotional. To me it was special because I've seen him and his journey for Delhi," Amre told reporters.

"We're happy with the way he conducted himself and credit to him, because it's not that easy to come back after 15 months and handle that pressure.

"I think he's the guy to take it on. We want him to go out there and deliver with his keeping and batting. It was really good to see him back on the field."

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)