Ricky Ponting predicts the next Rohit Sharma

Delhi are all set to take on Mumbai in the second game of the Indian T20 League 2022. While the five-time champions will be led by Rohit Sharma once again, Rishabh Pant will be leading Delhi for the second time in a row. It is to be noted that the Delhi-based franchise made it to the playoffs in the 2021 edition under his leadership.

The aggressive keeper-batter has significantly improved over the years. As a matter of fact, Delhi's coach Ricky Ponting had heaps of praises for him. He went on to compare Pant with Sharma. Ponting felt that the they were "quite similar".

Besides, the legend was initially with Mumbai, and backed Sharma during his maiden stint as Mumbai's captain during the 2013 edition. Ponting pointed out the fact that like Sharma, even Pant was given the responsibility to lead a team at a very young age. While mentioning that the Indian duo are good mates, the 47-year-old also said that they would probably be exchanging a few things about captaincy.

"I haven't thought about that actually. But I think they are actually quite similar. When Rohit took over at Mumbai, he was quite a young man as well and he just sort of started out in his international career. He would probably been about 23-24, similar age to what Rishabh over here. To be totally honest, they're actually quite similar people. I know they're great mates and they probably exchange little things about leadership and captaincy along the way as well," said Ricky Ponting while addressing the media ahead of the start of the Indian T20 League 2022.

"There is every opportunity for Rishabh's journey to be quite similar to Rohit Sharma. Taking over as a young captain of a successful franchise and growing on a daily basis... Hopefully Rishabh can have the same sort of success that Rohit had on," he added.

Ponting also stated that Pant could very well go on to be an international captain. He drew light on how the experience of leading a franchise would help him to be a better leader. Ponting also went on to appreciate Pant's maturity in the recent past.

"With some experience in a role like this in such a high-pressure tournament like the ITL, you know, I've got no doubt in years to come there is every chance that Rishabh could be international captain. No doubt about it. It will just keep helping him become a better leader and a better person on a daily basis. There's no doubt that his maturity over the last 12 or 18 months with his play but also with his leadership and captaincy has been outstanding," Ponting added.