Excited To Work Under Rishabh Pant; Hopefully We Can Be Successful: Steve Smith

While Rishabh Pant pipping some of his senior players in the Delhi Capitals to become the captain has raised a few eyebrows, it has mainly generated positive comments. Keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will lead the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2021 as Shreyas Iyer will miss the season due to a shoulder injury. Amongst the encouraging voices, one of Delhi Capitals’ latest recruit Steve Smith has also reacted.

Also Read: IPL 2021: I Want To Have A Positive Influence On Everything I Do, Says Glenn Maxwell

Rishabh Pant has emerged as one of India’s biggest match-winners in recent times. After thriving in Test cricket, the 23-year old also flourished in the limited-overs arena against England as he crafted impactful and game-changing knocks. Even as India kept losing wickets at times, Pant played his natural game and counterattacked to put the pressure back on the opposition.

Nevertheless, Pant would want to massively improve his performance from the one he produced last year. The southpaw had a mediocre IPL 2020 by his standards as he managed 343 runs in 14 matches at 31.18, keeping an underwhelming strike rate of 113.98. The Delhi-born cricketer also has the responsibility of leading the Capitals to their maiden title this year, sacrificing it to the Mumbai Indians in 2020 after reaching the final for the first time.

I think captaincy will suit him really well: Steve Smith

Steve Smith, who the Delhi Capitals bought for INR 2.2 crores in the auction, hailed Rishabh Pant in a Q&A session on Instagram for developing into an incredible player in the last few months. The former Australian captain remarked that Pant has lifted his game to a new level in the past few months and reckons he would be a good leader. Smith expressed the excitement of play under him and hopes to lift the trophy.

“I’m excited to see Rishabh as captain, he’s an incredible player as we have seen in the last few months. He’s taken his game to a new level and I think captaincy will suit him really well, so excited to work under him and hopefully we can be successful,” the premier Test batsman stated.

https://twitter.com/pant_fc/status/1379751751859929097?s=20