Mumbai: Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting feels wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will enjoy the extra responsibility of leading the side in IPL. Rishabh Pant was named skipper of DC after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury.
“I think extra responsibility is going to sit really well with him (Pant). He’s that sort of a person that likes the responsibility, wants to be the main man. He wants to be the leader, so I am really excited to see how he goes,” Ponting said.
“We’ll help Pant through, but honestly, I don’t think he’s going to need much help at all,” Ponting added.
The former Australian captain added that it will be part of the coaching staff and the senior players’ job to support the newly-appointed captain.
“I think we have to get most of the talking with Pant about his captaincy done, leading into the first game. Then we don’t have to worry about it as the tournament starts. The last thing you want is to be overloading the captain with all sorts of information once the tournament is underway,” informed Ponting.
“It’s a big part of my job, and other coaches and senior players’ to get behind Pant and help him where they need to. Not only during training, but during matches as well,” Ponting added.
The 23-year-old Pant has dazzled across all three formats in the international season that went by. “I have known how talented Pant is since the moment I laid eyes on him. When he got back into the Test squad in Australia, I actually made a comment before a ball was bowled in the second Test. I said this will be the unearthing of a 15-year Test player for India,” Ponting said.
“I think he’s on track for doing that. His cricket in the last six-seven months has been nothing short of breathtaking and outstanding,” added Ponting.
Despite the absence of regular skipper Iyer, the head coach is confident that the team can go all the way this season.
“I am thrilled with the players that we’ve got here. I think we can win the IPL. Might as well go on record and say it now because that’s what I and the players are here for,” asserted the former Aussie skipper.
“We’ve had our chat and it’s all about winning and how we can go one step further from last year. But the other important thing for me is that we’ve got a very different group from the one we had last year,” he said. “What happened last year doesn’t matter. We’ve got to work out a way to win enough games to qualify and then win the final,” Ponting signed off.