IPL 2023: 'Delhi Capitals would still love to have Rishabh Pant around' - Ricky Ponting

Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting desires to have "cultural leader" Rishabh Pant in the dugout in the forthcoming Indian Premier League (IPL). Ruled out of the tournament after prevailing in a horrid car mishap last month, the young Indian wicketkeeper and DC skipper is nowadays convalescing, having undergone a series of surgeries in Mumbai.

"You can't replace those guys, simple as that. They don't grow on trees. Players like that. We've got to look at, and we already are a replacement to come into the squad, a wicketkeeper-batsman. If he's not physically fit enough to play, we'd still love to have him around," Ponting spoke on the ICC Review show.

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"He's [Pant] the cultural leader around the group, being the captain, and that attitude and infectious smile and laughs are what we all love so much about him. If he can travel and be around the team, then I want him to sit beside me in the dugout every day of the week. I'll certainly be making sure, come the middle of March when we get together in Delhi and start our camps and stuff, if he's able to be there, then I want him around the whole time," added Ponting.

India will play Australia in a highly-anticipated approaching four-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The two teams look on course to clash again in June during the 2021-23 ICC World Test Championship final. But, Ponting considers that missing Pant's services will be a huge loss for India versus Australia.

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"I think he's [Pant] ranked in the top six-seven Test batsmen in the world, isn't he? When he first started, we all thought he would be a better T20 and one-day batsman than a Test batsman, but it's worked the other way. His Test cricket has been remarkable," Ponting questioned, with Pant currently ranked seventh in the ICC Test Rankings for batters.

"Even the series coming up against Australia, the four-Test series there, we know how he [Pant] played against Australia in Australia last time. He'd have been looking forward to that series, and the rest of the world would have been looking forward to watching him play," concluded Ponting.

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The 25-year-old Pant travelled from Delhi to Roorkee when his car crashed on December 29. The high-profile wicketkeeper-batter was brought to a local hospital before being transferred to Max Hospital in Dehradun. Then, Pant was airlifted to Mumbai, where he successfully experienced three surgeries by renowned orthopaedic surgeon Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala.