Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting compared wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant to Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson. The veteran stated that the young wicketkeeper-batsman will always take his team over the line if he is there at the end. Rishabh Pant was handed over the captaincy reins of Delhi Capitals after regular skipper Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of IPL 2021 due to a shoulder injury. Ricky Ponting acknowledged the fact that Rishabh Pant needs to work a little harder on his wicket-keeping. The former believes that he has the right qualities to become India's top choice for the next 10 to 12 years.
Pant is winning matches for India and that orders well for Delhi Capitals: Ricky Ponting
Rishabh Pant has been in great form of late. The 23-year-old began his purple patch in Australia with a counter-attacking 97 in the Sydney Test. It was then followed by the match-winning 89* in the historic win at the Gabba. Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant was in good form against England too. He smashed a brilliant century in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad and also did well behind the stumps on the turning tracks.
Talking about the ODI series, Rishabh Pant smashed a 40-ball 77 in the first ODI. The 23-year old helped KL Rahul add 113 runs in 80 balls to help take the hosts to 336 in 50 overs. In the third ODI of the series decider, Rishabh Pant played in a similar way. The keeper-batsman attacked the visitors and added 99 runs in 73 balls with Hardik Pandya. He top-scored with 78 off 62 balls, consisting of five boundaries and four sixes. It gave India 329 to defend, and they won the match by seven runs to take the series.
In his first game as in-charge of Delhi Capitals, the youngster guided Delhi Capitals to a winning start. Delhi Capitals defeated MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by seven wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Delhi Capitals will now play against Rajasthan Royals in their second game of the season, which will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday (April 15). While Delhi Capitals are heading into the contest on the back of a dominant win, the Royals lost their opening game against Punjab Kings by four runs.