Delhi Capitals’ (DC) head coach, Ricky Ponting, lets it slip that captain Rishabh Pant is eager to dive back into cricket fully by the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL). The keeper-batter had to step back after a regrettable car accident in December 2022. However, he’s almost in prime shape again, as per his recent social media updates.
Pant’s ability to accomplish the numerous responsibilities required of him as wicketkeeper-batsman and captain has yet to be proven. There is also an option for the flashy player to play as a pure hitter when the impact player rule is in force.
Ponting, who was recently announced as the head coach of Major League Cricket (MLC) franchise Washington Freedom, is cautiously enthusiastic about Pant’s comeback to the squad.
“Rishabh is very confident that he’s going to be right to play. In what capacity we’re not quite sure yet. You would have seen all the social-media stuff, he’s up and about and running well. But in saying that we’re only six weeks away from the first game as well. So we’re not sure if we’ll get wicketkeeping out of him this year.”
Ricky Ponting
Ponting also noted that he expected Pant to be serious about fulfilling all of his obligations with the organization, rather than ease back into the sport after a long absence.
“But I’ll guarantee if I asked him now he’ll say, ‘I’m playing every game, I’m keeping every game and I’m batting at No.4.’ That’s just what he’s like, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed. He’s such a dynamic player. He’s obviously our captain. We missed him incredibly last year.”
Ricky Ponting
Pant couldn’t participate in the IPL 2023, and under Warner’s guidance, DC ranked ninth. They had trouble from the start with five consecutive losses, leading to DC missing out on the playoffs yet again.
Ricky Ponting not sure how many games Pant can play but welcomes his return
On December 19 at the 2024 IPL mini-auction in Dubai, Rishabh Pant was present along with Ricky Ponting. He’s been putting in effort at Bengaluru’s National Cricket Academy, all geared for his comeback.
DC’s head coach is very hopeful. Him stating that having Pant play at least for a few games, if not all, would be a significant victory for the team adds to the positivity.
“We’ll just keep our fingers crossed and hope that he can be out there and play. Even if it’s not all the games, if we can manage him through 10 of the 14 games or whatever that might be then whatever games you can get out of him will be a bonus.”
Ricky Ponting
If Pant is unable to play in his full capacity, which includes wicket-keeping and leadership responsibilities, veteran David Warner may be given the opportunity to lead the side yet again.
DC had a hard time with batting despite solid players like David Warner and Mitchell Marsh. The inconsistent form of Prithvi Shaw and the absence of Rishabh Pant didn’t help either.
To tackle these batting problems, Ricky Ponting highlighted the unhelpful slow pitch at Arun Jaitley Stadium. He had also mentioned this while commentating during the recent 2023-24 Big Bash League season.
“We’ve got some challenges with our home venue to be honest. We rock up every game, we’re not really sure exactly what sort of wicket we’re going to get. So you’d go to the auction expecting you’re going to get one [type] of surface and you rock up for five games, seven games there and you get five different pitches so that does make it hard. But we definitely lacked on batting quality last year, which is what we’ve tried to really improve on this year.”
Ricky Ponting
DC has made many changes to its batting lineup, including parting ways with Phil Salt and Rovman Powell and acquiring Harry Brook, Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kushagra, and Shai Hope.