Sunil Gavaskar Backs Rishabh Pant To Become Successful Captain In Future

Legendary India batsman and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has lauded young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant for leading Delhi Capitals well in the Indian Premier League 2021.

Gavaskar said the Delhi Capitals captain showed spark of what can turn into a roaring fire as far captaincy is concerned. He further added that Rishabh Pant was tactically good and he managed to combine it with his street-smart approach to impress on his debut as captain in the IPL.

Pant was appointed as captain of Delhi Capitals after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of IPL 2021 with a shoulder injury. Despite not having their regular skipper, Pant did an excellent job. When the IPL was suspended for an indefinite time period, the Capitals were placed in the top half of the points table. Gavaskar feels that the left-handed Pant will learn from his mistakes going forward.

Sunil Gavaskar Heaped Praise On Rishabh Pant

“The standout team Delhi Capitals under young Rishabh Pant. By the sixth game, one could see that he was getting tired of being asked about being captain. Every presenter at the post-game ceremony had the same question to him.

“What he showed was a spark that can become a roaring fire if allowed to burn naturally. Yes, he will make mistakes; which captain doesn’t?” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

Gavaskar further stated that Pant has been ‘street-smart’ and the approach has helped him take his team out of jail plenty of times.

“But like he showed in the few games in the IPL that he is clever enough to learn and his usual street-smart savvy meant he was on top of most situations and was finding his own method to get out of sticky ones.

“He is one for the future, no doubt about it. That’s because he has shown that talent can meet opportunity only when it walks hand in hand with temperament,” he added.

The young wicket-keeper batsman Pant made a decent contribution with the bat in the IPL 2021. He accumulated 213 runs in eight innings, averaging 35.50 and had a strike rate of 131.48.

Pant will be travelling to England as he has been named as the first-choice wicketkeeper in the 20-man squad for the World Test Championship and a 5-Test series against England.

Pragyan Ojha Backed Rishabh Pant For Future India Captaincy

Meanwhile, former India spinner Pragyan Ojha had said last month that Pant has the potential to become India captain in the future.

“The way he has led his team. Somehow I get a feeling that in the years to come, if Rishabh Pant bats the way he has been batting and shows this maturity, he can be the captain. He is showing that,” Ojha had told Sports Today.