Coach of the Delhi Capitals (DC), Ricky Ponting, has disclosed his plans for the next Indian Premier League (IPL) season, including how he intends to employ returning sensation Rishabh Pant. Pant is hoping to recover from a serious vehicle accident that occurred in December 2022 and rejoin the Capitals later in March 2024 to play professional cricket.
Alongside India teammate Hardik Pandya, the wicketkeeper-batter has been participating in a number of match practise sessions at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
In an interview with Sanjana Ganesan for the most recent edition of The ICC Review, Ponting stated that, should his fitness permit, he anticipates Pant leading the team in IPL 2024.
“We’ll have to make a significant decision because, should he be well, you would imagine he would return to the captaincy position right away. We have some options to make there if he’s not fully fit and we have to employ him in a little different capacity,” Ponting stated, as cited by the official ICC website.
Pant has put in a ton of effort to try to get back into the cricket scene, according to Ponting, and his recent exploits at the NCA should serve him well for Delhi’s inaugural IPL game against the Punjab Kings on March 23 in Mohali.
“We’ve been very encouraged by the fact that he has actually participated in some practice matches over the past few weeks. I am aware that in order to return to his current level of fitness, he has put in a great deal of work on his body,” the former Australia batsman claimed that he has kept wickets in one of those games, he has fielded, and his batting hasn’t seemed to be a problem thus far.
“It goes without saying that we have been worried that he might not have arrived in time to be prepared for this year’s IPL. We can’t even begin to convey the ordeal he endured over the last 12 or 14 months. He was a tremendous loss for us last year.”
Ponting pointed out that cricket fans were eager for Pant to return to action following a grueling few months of recuperation. He also added that Pant was supremely talented and expressed confidence that he will settle in quickly upon his return to the field.