The Director of Cricket of the Delhi Capitals (DC) franchise and former India captain Sourav Ganguly spoke about Rishabh Pant missing in action ahead of the IPL 2023. He said that a player of Rishabh Pant’s calibre will “always be back" and must “heal properly" before returning.
Pant had met with a serious accident on his way back home from Delhi and had to be rushed to the hospital in Dehradun, where he underwent surgeries to treat his abrasions. Then the BCCI airlifted him to Mumbai, where he underwent surgery for his knee and is now on a long road to recovery.
“Anybody would miss Rishabh Pant. I am sure the national team is missing him as well. But it’s unfortunate what has happened. He is young, so he has got a lot of time left in his career. I have always said that he is a special player and I have not hidden that," Ganguly said during a pre-season camp at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
“I wish he (Pant) comes back. Whatever time it takes, he must heal properly and come back. There is no hurry because someone as brilliant as him will always be back," Ganguly added.
The accident and subsequent surgery to the knee has put him out of action indefinitely. In his absence, the DC handed the captaincy to IPL 2016 winning captain, David Warner, while Akshar Patel will be the vice-captain.
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On the other hand, DC coach Ricky Ponting said that: “He is the heart and soul of the Delhi Capitals, he is a Delhi boy, he is our leader. I have spoken to Rishabh Pant in the last few months. Also have tried to give him his own time and space. Obviously, it’s a very, very difficult time that he is going through right now. It is going to be a long recovery, a long way back to playing, hopefully, international cricket again."
Meanwhile, Ganguly added that the team’s youngsters need match time ahead of the start of the IPL 2023.
“They Look very good. They need match time. Nets are good but match is most important. They have been with me before the start of this camp thrice. So I have worked with them there. We want to get into match mode," he said.
Ganguly was effusive in his praise for the support staff and said: “He (Ponting) is fantastic. What a career he has had. You (can) see the intensity. Hopesy (fast bowling coach James Hopes) has been brilliant for Delhi. Good to have (assistant coach) Ajit (Agarkar), good to have (Shane) Watson (assistant coach). Pravin Amre (assistant coach) works very very hard. He worked hard with me in the camps as well. We just need to turn it into performance.”
Delhi Capitals get their 2023 season underway with an away match against Lucknow Super Giants on April 1.
(News18 inputs)
