Delhi Capitals’ head coach Ricky Ponting has on Wednesday (April 14) put Rishabh Pant in Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson’s league, saying the young wicketkeeper-batsman is very similar to the two modern-day legends in terms of winnings the matches for the team.
He further went on to compare Delhi Capitals’ new captain Pant to India captain Kohli and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, saying if the wicketkeeper-batsman is there at the end, then he will win the game for his team just like two of the best batsmen of the world.
Pant was recently given the leadership charge of DC in the ongoing IPL 2021 after regular skipper Shreyas Iyer was ruled out due to a shoulder injury, and the 23-year-old had a remarkable start of his career as a captain in the IPL, as his team defeated Chennai Super Kings in their first game last week.
Ponting told cricket.com.au: “He was disappointing for us in the last season, he had entered the edition with a lot of overweight on the back of lockdown in India. He turned up a bit underdone, he did his hamstring in the third or the fourth game.
When we brought him back, he could not get to the level that we expected but if you look at him now, you can see he is fit and he is winning matches for India and that augurs well for Delhi Capitals.”
The coach further added, “The biggest trick that we need to get right is Pant's batting position in this IPL, you want to involve him as early as well. Pant is like Virat Kohli or Kane Williamson, if you know he is there at the end, you are going to win more matches.”
Meanwhile, Pant is undoubtedly a brilliant batsman but his work behind the stumps always comes under the radar, but former Australia captain believes that he brilliantly kept in the recent England series and he can be India's wicketkeeper-batsman for the next 10-12 years if he continues to improve.
The DC coach further added, “There will always be question marks on his keeping, but he works hard on his keeping and his batting is just brilliant. But the way I saw him keeping on those turning wickets against England, he kept better than I thought he could.”
Ponting signed off by saying, “If his keeping continues to improve, he could be India's wicketkeeper-batsman for the next 10-12 years. Brilliant bloke to have in your team loves to be in the contest.”
(With ANI Inputs)
