Ricky Ponting worked with both Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.
Former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja has shared his thoughts on Delhi Capitals’ (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting’s decision to make Rishabh Pant the DC captain, picking him over Shreyas Iyer ahead of the ongoing IPL 2022.
After an impressive stint in the IPL 2021, Pant was retained by the Delhi Capitals (DC) ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction and then named the full-time captain.
Shreyas Iyer meanwhile, left DC and was roped in by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the IPL 2022 auction and was handed the two-time IPL champions’ captaincy.
At the moment, the DC still has a good chance to make it to the IPL 2022 playoffs, having won 6 out of 12 matches so far in the tournament.
Reacting to Pant’s captaincy, Jadeja has pointed out that Ponting might have felt that Pant was a better candidate to lead DC, having worked with both, and hence the Australian legend picked him over Iyer as the team's full-time captain.
Jadeja said on Cricbuzz: “Rishabh Pant's decisions have been good and he is an aggressive player. It seemed like he was playing a senior role very early in his career. The youth factor must stay intact. It was amazing to see him play this way today. Nobody expects him to go out there and play like the rest of the batters.”
He signed off by saying, “At times, when someone is made captain, you can feel that someone's guiding them. But with Pant, it's clear that he is the one calling the shots. Ricky Ponting backed Rishabh Pant ahead of ex-captain Shreyas Iyer. He saw both of them and selected Pant to lead the side as he thought him to be the better option out of the two.”