Ricky Ponting has expressed his desire to have Rishabh Pant with Delhi Capitals for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 even if not fit. He said that he absolutely loves the keeper batter and he wants him sitting beside him in the dugout every day of the week.
“I want him sitting beside me in the dugout every day of the week,” Ricky Ponting on Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant last month met with a tragic accident that saw him getting hospitalised. The southpaw was travelling from Delhi to Dehradun to surprise his mother and celebrate New Year together.
On his way home his car collided with the divider and caught fire. He was immediately taken out of the car and shifted to lock hospital before being referred to Max Hospital in Dehradun.
The keeper batter has suffered two lacerative wounds on his forehead along with a ligament tear in the knee and has also hurt his right wrist, ankle, and toe and has suffered abrasions on his back. He has been shifted to Mumbai, where he will undergo surgery for his knees.
Pant is likely to take at least take 3-6 months or more to recover from a ligament injury, which means that he is most likely to miss IPL 2023 as well. This will come as a major blow for DC as not only they will lose their captain but also a quality batter.
Ricky Ponting on Rishabh Pant pic.twitter.com/ZUJkpW0kl6
Advertisement— RVCJ Media (@RVCJ_FB) January 20, 2023
However, even if Rishabh Pant is not available, Ricky Ponting wants him to be around the Delhi Capitals camp as he feels he is a cultural leader and he wants him sitting beside him in the dugout every day of the week. Speaking to ICC, he said:
“If he’s actually not physically fit enough to play, we’d still love to have him around. He’s the sort of cultural leader around the group, being the captain, and that attitude and infectious smile and laugh he has is what we all love so much about him. If he’s actually able to travel and be around the team, then I want him sitting beside me in the dugout every day of the week.”
“He’s a really infectious young guy that has the world at his feet still,” Rishabh Pant
Pointing further lauded Pant as a young character who has World at his feet and revealed that he talked to him. He added:
“CCAcw I absolutely love the bloke, I told him that on the phone the last couple of days. t was a horrifying time, a really scary time for everybody, let alone him. Anyone that knows him loves him – he’s a really infectious young guy that has the world at his feet still. So we will keep our fingers crossed and hope that he can get back to playing sooner rather than later.” He concluded.
