Sydney: Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting praised young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, so much so that he called him ‘another Adam Gilchrist’ after the Indian’s blistering 159 in the fourth Test.
“He is a real talent and an incredibly good ball striker. He has got a really good game sense as well. I have been lucky enough to coach him at Delhi (Capitals),” said Ponting, who had worked with the Indian during his stint with Delhi franchise at the IPL.
“He has got to do a bit of work on his keeping and he will also become a better batsman. We talk about him in the commentary box and he is sort of like another Adam Gilchrist,” Ponting told cricket.com.au.
Ponting believes Pant will score more Test centuries than his predecessor Dhoni. “We talk about MS Dhoni all the time and his impact on Indian cricket. He played a lot of Tests for India but made only six Test hundreds. This kid (Pant) will make a lot more Test hundreds than that,” Ponting said.
“He has already scored his second Test ton and a couple of 90s to go with it. Look he is someone who could play a lot of Test cricket for India across formats. Pant is only 21 and is already into his ninth Test,” Ponting stated.
Gilchrist also praised Pant for pacing his innings well. “He played a beautiful innings Friday,” Gilchrist told foxsports.com.au. “We probably all expected him to bat aggressively from ball one but he showed he can build an inning and then by the end of it allowed himself to play with all the freedom that we know he’s got. It was entertaining. He’s a cricketer that I would happily pay to watch,” said the Aussie great.