The Former legendary skipper of Australia and the head coach of Delhi Capitals, Ricky Ponting is not sure about the participation of Rishabh Pant in this year’s IPL (Indian Premier League). He is unsure whether Rishabh will be able to captain the side or keep wickets.
But Rishabh Pant is “very confident”, he will play the full IPL. Rishabh is still recovering from the injuries and IPL is knocking at the doorsteps. The 26-year-old southpaw has not played since his car accident in December 2022.
Ricky Ponting unveiled as Washington Freedom’s new MLC (Major League Cricket) coach
Former Australian Skipper and World Cup winner, Ricky Ponting has been named the head coach of the Washington Freedom team for the upcoming season of Major League Cricket (MLC 2024) in the United States. Ponting signed a two-year contract with the Washington Freedom. He will replace his former teammate Greg Shipperd as the team’s head coach at the MLC.
Ponting, who was speaking on Wednesday in Melbourne says, “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 was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo.
“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.” Ponting explained.
“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.” Australian legend said.
If Pant was unavailable to do the job, Ponting confirmed that ace Australian opener David Warner would be captain again. He was happy with the squad, the franchise had assembled after the auction in December.
“With Harry Brook coming into the set-up as well, so Warner,
Mitchell Marsh, Harry Brook, we’ve got some really good overseas batters” Ponting added “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 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.” he said.
Jhye Richardson’s availability will also be a major concern for Delhi Capitals. The 27-year-old pacer from Western Australia has not played since injuring his side during the BBL and nobody knows the exact timeline on his return for WA (Western Australia) at the back end of the Australian domestic season. He also suffered another shoulder dislocation before the BBL and was unable to throw in the games he played.
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[…] the wait is finally over as Rishabh Pant is set to make a comeback in the 2024 IPL playing for the Delhi Capitals. He will lead the Delhi […]
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