Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant heaped praise on head coach Ricky Ponting ahead of the IPL 2022 season. Ponting dominated against the bowlers with the bat during his playing period for Australia between 1995-2012.
The former Australian skipper scored 27483 international runs in 668 innings across all formats of international cricket and is currently the third-highest run-scorer behind Kumar Sangakkara (28016) and Sachin Tendulkar (34357).
It’s always special whenever I meet Ricky Ponting: Rishabh Pant
Ponting joined the Delhi outfit in 2018 under his management, the team qualified for the playoffs for the last years in a row. Before Ponting’s arrival, Delhi Capitals weren’t a powerful force in the IPL as they would finish at the bottom of the points table on most instances.
Pant, who replaced Shreyas Iyer as the captain of the Capitals last year, said everyone in the team looks up to the former Australian captain as he brings a different kind of energy in the dressing room.
“It’s always special whenever I meet him. It’s like meeting a family member. Whenever he comes to the field, he brings that energy out of everyone. Everyone looks up to him,” Pant told the Delhi Capitals after his first training session with the team.
“Everyone expects that he is going to say something different. He is going to attract everybody. So everyone is looking positive after watching Ricky in action,” he added.
Had a great first session with the players: Ricky Ponting
The Delhi Capitals head coach said that he had a great time with the players in the squad’s first training session and also talked about the energy around the team. The former Australian player promised to personally interact with the youngsters of the team.
“At the moment, we need to really focus on what we need to do to get ready for game one. I had a great first session with the players. There’s an energetic vibe around the team, which is what we always strive for,” Ponting said.
“I have told the boys to keep their doors open when they are in their rooms and get to know each other. I am going to have breakfast, lunch and dinner with all the younger guys that I don’t know. When you show love towards the younger guys as a coach or a senior player, you know that they are going to give it back,” he further mentioned.
Delhi Capitals will play their first game of IPL 2022 against five-time champions Mumbai Indians on March 27 at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai.
