He's another Adam Gilchrist: Ricky Ponting says about Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant
Sydney, Jan 5 (IBNS): Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting, under whose leadership the country had won two World Cups, praised young Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant and even compared him with his former colleague and iconic wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist.
Gilchrist was a part of the charismatic Australian side which dominated the game under the leadership of Ponting.
“He's a real talent and an incredibly good ball striker. He's got a really good game sense as well," Ponting told Cricket Australia website.
Pant gained more attention when he hit his second Test hundred, a dominant 159*, on Friday against Australia. India and Australia are currently playing the fourth and final match of the series.
"He's already now into his second Test match hundred and a couple of 90s to go with it. Look, he is someone who could play a lot of cricket for India in all three formats. He is only 21 and into his ninth Test, so he could be around for a long time," Ponting said.
Ponting said he feels Pant will score more Test hundreds than former Indian captain MS Dhoni.
“He has got to do a bit of work on his keeping, and [with time] he'll become a better cricketer but he'll also become a better batsman. We talk about MS Dhoni all the time and his impact on Indian cricket. [Dhoni] played a lot of Tests for India but made only six Test hundreds. This kid will make a lot more Test hundreds than that," he added.
"We talk about him in the commentary box and the way that he bats, he is sort of like another Adam Gilchrist," Ponting said.
Pant is currently playing the role of the main wicketkeeper for the nation after regular player Wriddhiman Saha was sidelined due to injury last year.
Pant adds his name in history books:
Rishabh Pant on Friday became the only wicketkeeper from India to score a century in Australia. He remained unbeaten at 159.
Pant score his first ton and his second in Test cricket in the fourth and final Test against Australia here on Friday. He reached his 100 in 137 deliveries.
Before Pant, Farokh Engineer was the highest scoring Indian wicketkeeper in Australia. He had scored 89 in Adelaide in 1967.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.