[ad_1]
Young Rishabh Pant has come a long way in his career. Despite being all of just 24, Pant has already seen a lot of ups and downs in his career, which has also been filled with comparisons. During his debut year in Indian Premier League and subsequent selection for India, he was backed to be the next MS Dhoni, however, his flamboyant and left-handed batting reminded many of Aussie great Adam Gilchrist. And now, former Australia captain and Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting has drawn a similarity between Pant and India captain Rohit Sharma.
Ponting was part of Mumbai Indians when Rohit was made the captain back in 2013 season. In fact, it was Ponting who had stepped down from the captaincy role and had backed the then youngster to take over the position. Mumbai have since grown into the most successful IPL franchise ever with five titles to their name.
Speaking to the media ahead of the start of IPL 2022 season where Delhi will be up against Mumbai on Sunday, Ponting drew a similarity between Rohit and Pant.
“I haven’t thought about that actually. But I think they are actually quite similar. When Rohit took over at Mumbai, he was quite a young man as well and he just sort of started out in his international career. He would probably been about 23-24, similar age to what Rishabh over here.
“To be totally honest, they’re actually quite similar people. I know they’re great mates and they probably exchange little things about leadership and captaincy along the way as well,” he said.
Ponting then backed Pant to emulate what Rohit has achieved with Mumbai Indians.
“There is every opportunity for Rishabh’s journey to be quite similar to Rohit Sharma. Taking over as a young captain of a successful franchise and growing on a daily basis… Hopefully Rishabh can have the same sort of success that Rohit had on Mumbai Indians,” he added.
Earlier this month, Rohit was named as India’s new Test captain. But with Rohit being 34, BCCI has singled out three youngsters who will groom under Rohit to take over the role in the future and Pant is among those candidates. He was earlier named as the deputy to Rohit during the T20I series against West Indies at home last month.
“With some experience in a role like this in such a high-pressure tournament like the IPL, you know, I’ve got no doubt in years to come there is every chance that Rishabh could be international captain. No doubt about it,” Ponting said.
“It will just keep helping him become a better leader and a better person on a daily basis. There’s no doubt that his maturity over the last 12 or 18 months with his play but also with his leadership and captaincy has been outstanding.”
Hailing Pant further, the Australian legend added, “He’s got a very good grasp on what leadership is all about. He’s been in a successful team and he’s been under strong leaders in the past.
“So it’s just up to me to see if anything that I can help him with, to make sure I’m doing that along the way.”
[ad_2]
Source link