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'He showed a spark that can become a roaring fire': Sunil Gavaskar says Rishabh Pant as captain is 'one for the future'
Sunil Gavaskar believes Rishabh Pant has what it takes to become one of the top captains of the Indian cricket team in future.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has heaped praise on young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant for leading Delhi Capitals well in the Indian Premier League 2021, with the batting great believing that the youngster has what it takes to become one of the top captains of the country in future.
Pant was handed the captaincy after Shreyas Iyer, captain of Delhi Capitals for the last two years in the IPL, was ruled out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury. Under Pant’s leadership, DC produced a terrific performance as they were placed on the top of the points table before the league was indefinitely suspended due to rising cases of Covid-19 in its bio-bubble.
Gavaskar lauded Pant’s temperament as a leader, stating that the youngster is clever enough to learn. In his latest column for Sportstar, the cricketer-turned-commentator wrote that the youngster showed a ‘spark’ in the tournament which could become a ‘roaring fire’.
“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.
“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.
Pant made a decent contribution with the bat in the IPL 2021. He scored 213 runs in eight innings, averaging 35.50 and had a strike rate of 131.48.
