Rishabh Pant gave another reminder to Indian cricket fans and team management of what they could be missing at the ICC World Cup as he bulldozed his way to an unbeaten 78 of just 36 balls to guide Delhi Capitals to victory against Rajasthan Royals on Monday night.
Pant was in rampaging form as he hit six boundaries and four sixes to help his team chase down a big target. After the match, DC head coach and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said that India might have made a wrong choice by not including the youngster in their 15-member squad for the World Cup.
“I know how disappointed he was to miss out on the World Cup. In my opinion as well, I think India made the wrong choice there. I think he would have been absolutely devastating in English conditions through those middle over against spinners,” Ponting said while speaking to the official broadcasters.
“Would have loved to see what he could have done in the World Cup. As I said at the time he was left out, he’s got the potential to play three or four more World Cups if he keeps himself fit and healthy.”
“Someone as explosive as Rishabh likes a bit more pace on the ball. And we saw that tonight. Once he gets those sort of wickets he’s lethal. He got a wicket like that in Mumbai and he hit 70-odd off 20-odd balls,” Ponting added.
Team mentor Sourav Ganguly also applauded Pant and said that talented players like him should not be asked to change their game.
“Players like Rishabh Pant are genuine match winners. You don’t want to tell them to change much. They might fail in four or five matches but on their day they can single handedly win you matches, that is why they are important,” the former India captain told the official broadcasters during a post-match chat.
