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Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting has said that skipper Rishabh Pant is confident of playing the entire season of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Pant who was severely injured in a horrific car crash on December 30, 2022, is in high spirits a few weeks away from the upcoming season. Ponting is not sure about Pant's role or whether he will be able to keep wickets but is impressed by the 26-year-old’s approach during recovery.
"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," Ponting said after becoming Major League Cricket (MLC) franchise Washington Freedom's coach.
"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 added.
Ponting keeps fingers crossed for Pant's recovery
Ponting does not want Pant to overexert. Instead, he hopes that he can manage and get him to play 10 out of 14 league games without getting injured.
"He's such a dynamic player. He's obviously our captain. We missed him incredibly last year. If you understand the journey he's been on the last 12-13 months, it was a horrific incident. One that I know he feels very lucky to have even survived, let alone have the chance to play cricket again.
"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," Ponting said.
If Pant does not play every match in the season, David Warner will likely continue to lead the team.
Ponting banking on overseas talent
In Pant's absence, DC struggled and managed to win five out of nine games to finish ninth on the points table, just above Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). After making a few changes, Pant is hopeful of the top-order firing. However, he is banking on his two overseas pacers to regain fitness.
"With Harry Brook coming into the set-up as well, so Warner, [Mitch] Marsh, Harry Brook, we've got some really good overseas batters," the former Australia captain said. "Marsh and Warner will bat up the top somewhere and Harry Brook has been finishing off with England, so he'll probably play a finishing role for us there.
"[If] we can get [Anrich] Nortje and Jhye Richardson fit, and with the two spin options we've got with Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav we've got a really good squad that to be fair has probably underperformed the last couple of years, so we've got some work to do," the 49-year-old added.
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