Pant on track as Delhi Capitals prepare for IPL glory

PTI

Visakhapatnam, March 15

Rishabh Pant seems to be hitting the ball as well as he has ever been known to, something that is lifting the spirits of his Delhi Capitals’ teammates, head coach Ricky Ponting said after his first session ahead of the upcoming IPL starting next Friday.

Pant, who had been out for 14 months following a horrific car crash near his hometown Rourkee in December 2022, has been cleared by the BCCI to play both as a batter and wicketkeeper.

“We missed him (Pant) incredibly last year. The whole tournament missed him. Rishabh brings so much energy to the team. He’s got that smile on his face, he’s hitting the ball as good as ever and he tends to lift all of his teammates around him,” Ponting said.

However, the coach admitted that the team is yet to pick up pace even with only eight days left for DC’s first game against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur’s newly-constructed Stadium.

“It’s just the start. We don’t expect to be practising at our absolute best right now. We’re not even so much looking forward to the first game yet. We’re getting some volume work done,” said the former Australia skipper, referring to the workload at the training session.

Asked about the team’s approach this year, Ponting said: “It’s not a different approach, it’s the same, but I’m going to be more intense with the way that I go about it this year. Every time I come here, I talk about winning the IPL and nothing changes there,” he said. — PTI

Pandya promises fireworks from MI

Mumbai: Back in Mumbai Indians colours, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya today vowed to play a brand of cricket which no one will forget as he leads the five-time champions this IPL season. Pandya was traded to MI from Gujarat Titans. “The feeling of wearing these colours is very special for me. Journey started here, coming back home and playing is always going to be special,” said Pandya, who replaces Rohit Sharma as captain. “We will make sure we will play a brand of cricket which all will be proud of and at the same point of time it’s going to be a ride no one will forget.”

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