‘Hopefully He Has Huge Impact On This World Cup..’, Former Aussie Cricketer Backs Rishabh Pant

Former Australia cricketer and Delhi Capitals’ head coach Ricky Ponting has backed skipper Rishabh Pant to have a huge impact on the upcoming T20 World Cup. Pant made 446 runs at an average of 40.54 and a strike-rate of 155.4 while claiming a joint-high 16 dismissals with the gloves during IPL 2024 and he will be expected to replicate the performance at the marquee event.

Pant suffered severe injuries in a major accident in December 2022 and while there were questions over his return, he made a brilliant recovery.

Pant returned to professional cricket after 15 months in IPL 2024 and gave a good account of himself in the tournament, and made the cut as India’s first-choice wicketkeeper for the T20 World Cup.

“It’s been nothing short of spectacular, to be honest. I spent a few months with him in the middle of the IPL last year, which was only sort of three or four months after his accident,” Ponting told The ICC Review.

“And I had grave fears then that he would never play the game again. What he’d been through psychologically, but what he’d been through physically. At that stage, he still couldn’t walk,” Ponting added.

While Pant’s efforts with the bat were eye-catching, what saw him return to the Indian team for the T20 World Cup was his quality keeping.

Ponting said that the actual concern around Pant was if he could handle the workload that comes with wicketkeeping, since he had injured ligaments in his knee.

“No one had real concerns about his batting, because of how good he is and how dynamic he is with the bat. But with his wicket-keeping, and having to squat every ball for 14 games in a row, there were certainly some concerns there,” Ponting said.

Pant finished the league stage of the IPL with 16 dismissals, the joint-most by any wicket-keeper in IPL 2024. On the back of his impressive showing behind and in front of the stumps, he was named in India’s T20 World Cup team as predicted by Ponting.

“I was asked when I was over there what I thought about him. He’d been picked in the Indian squad, and I basically said he’d be one of the first players picked, and sure enough he was,” Ponting said.

“But it’s been a remarkable comeback, and hopefully he has a huge impact on this World Cup,” Ponting added.

India begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 in Nassau County.