Former Australian captain and ex-Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting hailed Rishabh Pant’s comeback. Ponting admitted that he did not expect Pant to be back for the IPL 2024 for Delhi Capitals. He praised Pant’s remarkable recovery and becoming DC’s highest run scorer in IPL, being part of India’s T20 World Cup winning campaign and now returning back to the nation’s Test side. Pant went through a car accident in December 2022 which kept him out of cricketing action for nearly 15 months.

“It’s a remarkable comeback. If you can even see his leg now and listen to the stories he tells about what he had confronted during his car accident, just the mental scarring that comes with that but the physical side and the rehab he went through, I didn’t think he would play last year’s IPL (2024),” Ricky Ponting told Sky Sports.

Ponting on Pant’s comeback

The former DC head coach revealed that Pant assured the team that he would be back for the IPL 2024. He scored 446 runs at an average of 40.55 with a strike-rate of 155.40 in 13 matches. Pant returned to India colours and scored 171 runs in 8 matches as their wicketkeeper in the T20 World Cup.

“But 12 months before, he said ‘Don’t worry about me, I guarantee you I’ll be right for the IPL’. We thought he’ll be able to bat and we might have to use him as a sub player (Impact Player) but he kept every game, was one of our leading run-scorers, bats No. 3 in the T20 World Cup and is part of a World Cup winning team and is named in the Test squad now,” he added.

Pant’s return to red-ball cricket

After a blistering fifty in round one of the Duleep Trophy 2024, Pant announced his return to red-ball cricket. He was picked in India’s squad for the 2-match Test series against Bangladesh and would be in reckoning for the big series against Australia, starting November.

“It’s a remarkable comeback and we’ve all seen him play and heard him in the stump mic, he’s an infectious character to have around the group. He loves his cricket, he’s a winner, that’s what he is,” Ponting said.