Pant is like Kohli and Williamson, brilliant bloke to have in your team: Ponting
Apr 14, 2021
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 14 : Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting has compared Rishabh Pant to Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson, saying that the wicketkeeper-batsman will always take his team over the line if he is there at the end.
Pant was given the charge of Delhi Capitals as regular skipper Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of IPL 2021 due to a shoulder injury.
"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 told cricket.com.au.
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.
In his first match as in-charge of Delhi Capitals, Pant saw a winning performance as his side defeated MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets here at the Wankhede Stadium.
"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.
"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," he added.
Delhi Capitals chased down a target of 188 as Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan set the stage on fire with their stunning opening partnership against CSK.
Delhi Capitals will next take on Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
