All eyes will be on Rishabh Pant’s captaincy as he steps into Shubman Gill’s shoes following the Indian Test skipper’s injury in Kolkata. Behind 1-0 in the series to South Africa, Pant will have the unenviable task of trying to rescue things for a shaky Indian team as the series heads to the ACA Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati.
This will be Pant’s debut as a full Test captain for India, although he has led in moments when Gill has been off the field, including during South Africa’s third innings in Kolkata. India leaking runs to the Proteas tail led to some doubts regarding Pant’s leadership – but as he prepares to take charge, he has the backing of one of the best Test captains of all time, and a figure who knows his capabilities extremely well.
Speaking to the ICC Review, Ricky Ponting gave his support to Pant, and reflected on the qualities he had seen in him while they shared a dressing room for five years in the IPL for Delhi Capitals.
“It’s never easy to come in and fill in for someone as a stopgap captain, especially when you’ve just lost a Test match a few days before,” admitted Ponting. “Rishabh is a reasonably experienced Test match player now though as well. I think being a wicket keeper probably helps to see the way that the game is evolving and what’s happening in the game.”
IPL experience will go a long way, says Ponting
Pant is two matches away from completing his half-century in Test cricket, and has been a member of the team for seven years now. But captaincy in the longest format is a different monster – but having led both Delhi and Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, Ponting believes Pant has the tenacity for the added responsibility.
“He has done at IPL level now for the last few years, obviously done it in Delhi (Capitals) before that. I think he’ll handle it fine,” said Ponting.
One concern Ponting did have is whether Pant’s batting would be affected by leadership. His T20 batting did take a hit upon his assumption of DC’s captaincy, and as India’s leading batter in Gill’s absence, fans will want him at his best in Guwahati with bat in hand.
“It will be interesting to see how he plays as captain if he changes his style of play as captain, as a batter anyway,” explained Ponting.
‘Enormity of the situation’ won’t daunt Pant
However, Ponting referenced the IPL as being an excellent incubator for leadership even at the international level, given the size of the IPL in India as well.
“I think the one thing that’s probably not spoken about enough with these so-called younger Indian players now… they get that great experience from the IPL,” said Ponting.
“I think the modern players are a bit more ready for that and a bit for those leadership roles and the enormity of the situation than they might have been 15 years ago. So I think Rishabh will handle it fine,” concluded the Australian legend.
Pant will want to get off to a winning start in his first match as Indian captain, but against a solid WTC winning team in the Proteas, there is no question that he will have to be at his sharpest right from the off.
