The relationship between MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant is an ideal example of India captain Virat Kohli’s comment about ‘outside noise’ having no bearings on what is transpiring inside the dressing room. Dhoni had taken Pant under his wings ever since the young left-hander burst onto the scenes. From starting his career as a prodigy to being subjected to social media trolls when Dhoni was not there to now establishing himself as not only as the first-choice keeper in all formats but also presenting himself as a match-winner with the bat, Pant has come a long way.
The IPL captaincy that came along Pant's way after an unfortunate injury to Delhi Capitals’ regular captain Shreyas Iyer, was perhaps the icing on the cake in what is turning out to be a purple patch of his career. And what better way to start your IPL captaincy career than facing off against the biggest captains of them all – MS Dhoni.
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The Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant expressed that it will be very special for him to lead an IPL team for the first time in a match against MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
"It will be extra special to walk out for the toss with MS Dhoni. This will be the first time that I will be leading an IPL team and the first match is against Mahi bhai,” Pant said ahead of the CSK vs DC encounter in Mumbai on Saturday.
{{/usCountry}}"It will be extra special to walk out for the toss with MS Dhoni. This will be the first time that I will be leading an IPL team and the first match is against Mahi bhai,” Pant said ahead of the CSK vs DC encounter in Mumbai on Saturday.
{{/usCountry}}The hard-hitting left-hander added that he will try and use the learnings from Dhoni against him in the IPL 2021 match No.2.
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“I have learned a lot from him, and I have gained a lot of experience from him. Hopefully, I can use this experience against him, and we can win this match. That's what I am looking forward to," he said.
Pant added that the Delhi Capitals squad, for the IPL 2021, has a great mix of experience and youth.
"I have been talking to the senior players like Shikhar Dhawan, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane about the fields we can set and other strategic decisions for the team. I have been talking to Ricky and our Bowling Coach James Hopes as well. There's a good mix of seniors and juniors in our squad and I think with the help of Ricky, we can do something different this year."
DC head coach Ponting said that all players are hungry to perform and are ready for another challenge in the IPL.
"I am really happy about how our last 10-11 days have gone. There will be certainly no excuses from us about how we perform in Game 1. We've got a great group of players, who are hungry and excited for another challenge for us as a franchise and a team. So, I am excited to see how the boys play tomorrow."
Pant expressed that he is just looking to keep things simple in his first match as Skipper in the IPL.
"I haven't thought about the fact that it's my first match as Captain in the IPL. I am just going to keep things simple and give my 100 per cent. You get a good idea about setting fields as a wicketkeeper and now as captain I will be making the changes in the field directly. So, there's not going to be much of a difference for me," said Pant.