Extra responsibility is going to sit really well with Rishabh Pant: Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting believes Rishabh Pant will thrive in the extra responsibility of leading DC in the forthcoming IPL season. Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting is confident that new captain is going to take the franchise to greater heights in IPL 2021. Rishabh Pant has been handed over the captaincy reins after regular skipper Shreyas Iyer got ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury. This will be the first instance that he will be leading a team in the IPL. Ricky Ponting is really thrilled to see what the young Indian wicketkeeper does in IPL 2021.

Shreyas Iyer, who injured his left shoulder in the ODI match against England is likely to undergo surgery on April 8. The batsman hurt his left shoulder badly while fielding in the first ODI against England in Pune when he dived to stop a shot from Jonny Bairstow. The 26-year-old had missed the last two ODI games and has also been ruled out of IPL 2021.

I have known how proficient Rishabh Pant is since the moment I laid eyes on him: Ricky Ponting

Rishabh Pant has a huge responsibility as Shreyas Iyer had taken DC to their maiden IPL final last year. DC has been qualifying for the playoffs in the previous two seasons under Shreyas Iyer. Thus, there will be a bit of pressure on Rishabh Pant to do the same this year as well. Shreyas Iyer who is a veteran of 79 IPL games, has accumulated 2200 runs averaging 31.42. The 26-year-old led last year’s runner-up Delhi Capitals from the front. Iyer scored 519 runs from 17 games, averaging 34.6. According to the report, Shreyas Iyer is likely to be out of action for the next four months.

The youngster had also signed with English county Lancashire. However, in the wake of the injury, he might not play for them. Shreyas Iyer was impressive in the T20I games against England. He scored 67 runs in the first T20I and a quickfire 37 in the fourth match. Despite all this, Ponting opines that Rishabh will thrive in the extra responsibility that the team management has given him. Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals will be playing their first match of the season against MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 10.

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