Former Australian National Cricket Team skipper Ricky Ponting is in awe of promising Indian Test wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant for his temperament and skills. The legendary batsman Ponting believes Pant has a lot in his tank to represent his national side. Ponting reiterated a lot has been said about MS Dhoni, but he sees a lot of promise in Delhi-based Pant.
According to the batting stalwart Ponting, Pant will slam more tons than Dhoni, who has smashed six hundred during his Test career comprised of 90 Tests. Recently, Pant has slammed his second Test ton at Sydney which earned him accolades.
“We talk about MS Dhoni all the time and his impact on Indian cricket. He played a lot of Tests for India but made only six Test hundreds. This kid will make a lot more Test hundreds than that,” Ponting was quoted as saying by ICC digital.
Interestingly, in nine Test matches, Pant has recorded two centuries in overseas condition.
In England, Pant became first-ever Indian wicketkeeper-batsman to record a hundred in the Test fold, last year.
On Tuesday, the 21-year-old Pant has bagged the award for ICC’s Emerging Cricketer of the year before making it to the ICC Test Team of the year under the tutelage of Virat Kohli alongside pace sensation Jasprit Bumrah.
Ponting compares Pant with Gilchrist:
Interestingly, owing to the comparison Ponting has heaped praise on Pant adding the latter is following the suit of legendary Adam Gilchrist. So much so, Ponting revealed he would be excited to pay for a game in which Pant would step up to play in the middle.
“We talk about him in the commentary box and he is sort of like another Adam Gilchrist. He’s a cricketer that I would happily pay to watch,” Ponting further added.
Pant is a real talent: Ponting
Ponting reiterated the exceptional talent in Pant will help him to go a long way. He is the cricketer to represent India across formats according to Ponting who led Australia in a spectacular way.
“He is a real talent and an incredibly good ball striker. He has got a really good game sense as well. He is someone who could play a lot of Test cricket for India across formats,” Ponting said.
However, while observing Pant’s game on close quarters, Ponting maintained the youngster should focus on his keeping role and the time will allow him to improve his game as a batsman.
“He has got to do a bit of work on his keeping and he will also become a better batsman,” Ponting remarked.
Ponting asserted Pant will learn the niceties of the game while getting better of challenges in the foreseeable cricket. However, he has set a pedestal—to emerge as one of the best in business in the traditional format.
In conclusion, Pant had recently equalled the record of most catches in the Test fold as a wicket-keeper. He is at par with England’s Jack Russell and the Proteas AB de Villiers. He achieved this feat during Australia series which also saw him surpassing Wriddhiman Saha’s ten dismissals behind the stumps.