Ahead of Delhi Capitals’ second match in IPL 2021 against Rajasthan Royals, former Australia captain and current DC coach Ricky Ponting said Rishabh Pant is a bit like Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson. Giving reasons for his high praise for the DC captain, Ponting said just like Kohli and Williamson, if Pant stays there till the end, he will win his side the match more often than not.
“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,” Ponting told cricket.com.au.
Pant, who has been in fantastic form for India in all three formats of the game, was chosen as the DC captain after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out due to a shoulder injury. Pant started IPL 2021 on a positive note, as his side beat MS Dhoni’s CSK comfortably in their opening match.
Ponting explained how Pant worked on his fitness levels and batting after having a below-par IPL last year.
“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 orders well for Delhi Capitals,” said Ponting.
Pant has been in remarkable form off late as he gave match-winning performances in the series against Australia and England. The left-handed batsman also scored a stunning ton against England in the fourth Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
“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. 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,” Ponting added.
