Ricky Ponting opens up on Rishabh Pant’s comeback as Delhi Capital’s captain in IPL 2024

Rishbah Pant has been an integral part of the Indian Test side as well as the Delhi Capital side in the IPL until the horrific car accident that left the young wicketkeeper batter out of cricket for more than a year now. The dashing wicketkeeper batter is still rehabilitating in the National Cricket Academy and is expected to make a comeback into competitive cricket in the 2024 edition of the IPL.

The accident left an indelible mark on the southpaw's mental and physical fitness, while he has shown tremendous recovery from the accident, Delhi Capital coach Ricky Ponting would be cautious about Pant's comeback into competitive cricket. Ricky Ponting has been named as the coach of the Washington Freedoms of the Major League Cricket (MLC) and in a recent interview in Melbourne he spilled beans on Rishbah Pant's comeback plans in the IPL.

Ricky Ponting said, “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.”

He further added, "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. If you understand the journey he’s been on for 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.” 

Ricky Ponting sheds light on Delhi’s disastrous last season

Ricky Ponting also shed light on Delhi’s poor performance in the last season where they finished ninth in the points table. Ricky Ponting emphasized that they didn’t play on their home ground last season which was a prominent reason for their bad performance.

He also said that the pitches that were offered in the last season were inconsistent and had much spin that the management assumed and their batters weren’t able to adapt according to the conditions which resulted in a disastrous season for the Capitals.