IPL 2021: "Even Shreyas was a bit the same" - Ricky Ponting comments on Rishabh Pant's captaincy
Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting heaped praise on the team's new skipper Rishabh Pant. He pointed out how Pant has done an excellent job so far in IPL 2021. Ponting also compared him to Shreyas Iyer, saying Pant has captained the same way Iyer did after being elected the Delhi skipper.
Ricky Ponting has closely followed Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant at Delhi Capitals. The former Australian cricket team captain joined the Delhi-based franchise as their head coach in 2018. He was the one who decided to assign the team's reins to Shreyas Iyer during the 2018 season.
During his appearance on DC All Access, Ricky Ponting commented on Pant's leadership.
"He's done a really good job, no doubt about it. I mean he is his own man, he wants to do it his own way, he is you know not someone who likes an overload of information which you like, which I think is a good sign for him because, you know even Shreyas was a bit the same early on in his captaincy career as well and you have got to let them captain with their gut feel," said Ricky Ponting.
The Capitals performed brilliantly under Iyer's leadership. However, Iyer's shoulder injury ruled him out of IPL 2021. In his absence, the Capitals named Rishabh Pant as their new captain. So far, DC have won four of their six games in IPL 2021 under Pant's leadership.
Rishabh Pant did a great job with limited bowling options against MI: Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting also highlighted how Rishabh Pant rotated his bowlers to perfection during the game against the Mumbai Indians.
Although DC had limited bowling options, Pant used all-rounders Lalit Yadav and Marcus Stoinis to balance things at Chepauk. Yadav and Stoinis bowled seven overs in that game, conceding only 37 runs and picking up two wickets.
"Even the other night, I thought Rishabh, in the first game we had in Chennai, I thought he did a great job with limited bowling options and we knew we are going into the game, we were only taking the four specialist bowlers into the game, so he knew he had to work out how he could get overs out of Lalit and Stoinis, and I thought he managed them exceptionally well," added Ricky Ponting.
The Delhi Capitals will be in action tomorrow evening against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Narendra Modi Stadium.