"Rashid ko khelna janta hu" - Rishabh Pant

Delhi Captain Rishabh Pant has recently shared that he is ready to face the star spinner Rashid Khan ahead of the Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Titans game on Wednesday, April 24 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

He said in a video shared on Jio Cinema’s social media account, “I have played against Rashid a lot. So there’s an idea how to play. If you can hit the best bowler of your team then you can put a pressure on the team as well. It can be a mental pressure also, although there’s a chance to get out as well.”

However, Rishabh Pant has been leading Delhi Capitals in the ongoing IPL 2024. Just before the tournament, BCCI’s medical team issued a statement clearing Pant to resume his cricketing journey as well. However, he faced a life-threatening car accident in December 2022.

“He should bat in the middle order” – Sourav Ganguly on Rishabh Pant

After surgeries and an extensive 14-month rehab, he is back as well. And, now DC head coach Ricky Ponting and the team’s Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly believe that Rishabh Pant will be there on the World Cup squad as well.

“I think so, yeah, I think yes,” Ganguly said of Pant’s chances to be in India’s World Cup squad. “Only 15 can make it, but as in any sport it happens, the most equipped and the better ones play and I think Pant is definitely in that bracket, I’m sure he’ll be going to West Indies,” the former BCCI chief noted at a DC media day in New Delhi.

ALSO READ: Zaheer Khan shares MS Dhoni’s plans after IPL 2024

“He should bat in the middle order. Where exactly is very difficult to say in T20 cricket, because of [factors like] match-ups, right-left combinations depending on who bowls, the situation of the game. It’s probably not possible for anyone – rght from no. 3 to 7 – to say with surety what their fixed position is. It doesn’t work like that in T20 cricket especially,” Ganguly again added.

“I think he’s batting is getting better and better by the game” – Ricky Ponting on Rishabh Pant

However, Rishabh Pant has donned the gloves in all eight of DC’s games in IPL 2024 so far and he is also the team’s leading scorer in the tournament with 254 runs at an average of 36.29 and a strike rate a shade above 150 as well. Meanwhile, Ponting shared how the 26-year-old has regained confidence in his body while managing the workload over the last month.

“It’s pretty obvious that he’s seemingly gotten better and better every game. I think he’s starting to get a bit more trust and belief in the body as well. Early on he had been a little bit apprehensive as to what he can do, especially with the wicketkeeping side of it. He had done a little bit of batting coming into the tournament, so he had pretty good trust in his leg with the bat in his hand, but I think what we’re seeing with his ability to play every game as a keeper so far, I think he’s batting is getting better and better by the game,” he added.

“I’ve been asked a lot already the last couple of weeks now that he’s back playing what cold be his World Cup chances. I think he’ll be in the squad for sure. He’s too good a player and can have too much of an impact on games for India to not pick him,” Ricky Ponting said.