‘He was not that prepared for captaincy': Pravin Amre explains how Rishabh Pant’s positive approach took DC on top
After a series of failures, Rishabh Pant shut his critics with a brilliant show in Australia and then against England at home. Meanwhile, he was handed the captaincy of DC after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of injury.
Cricket coach Pravin Amre has been a guiding force for many stalwarts of Indian cricket. The former cricketer has helped the likes of Ajinkya Rahane and Suresh Raina with their techniques. And now, as a Delhi Capitals assistant coach, he has been observing young wicketkeeper and skipper Rishabh Pant.
Rishabh has shown a drastic change in his performance ever since he returned into the national setup in the Test series Down Under. After a series of failures, the youngster shut his critics with a brilliant show in Australia and then against England at home. Meanwhile, he was handed the captaincy of DC after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of injury.
Speaking on evolution as a cricketer, Amre heaped praise on the youngster, stating that he is in a ‘good space’ and ‘enjoying himself’.
“I have seen him from Day 1 when he came to Delhi Capitals selection trials from the India under-19 team and effortlessly hit sixes. His speciality is to hit sixes on slow tracks. That’s something special when the bounce is low. It struck me then that this boy was something different,” Amre was quoted as saying.
“What we saw in the last six months for Team India was that he was showing more maturity, learning with experience. He is now in a good space, enjoying himself as a wicketkeeper and as a key batsman for the Indian team. He is also enjoying his role as a finisher,” he added.
The DC assistant coach further revealed that Pant wasn’t ‘that prepared’ to lead DC in the absence of Shreyas Iyer in IPL 2021. However, the 23-year-old showed a positive attitude and led it to the top before the tournament was indefinitely suspended.
“This year, when he came to the IPL, he was not that prepared for captaincy after Shreyas Iyer got injured. But he showed a lot of positivity, building this team, backing it and being on the top. As a team gets successful, you have to give credit to the captain. In this format, the captain is more answerable than the coaches. DC won six of the eight matches this IPL. Credit goes to the captain as this format is driven by the captain,” said Amre.