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Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting is keen to have Rishabh Pant in the dressing room during their home games in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Pant will miss the entirety of IPL 2023 due to multiple injuries he suffered during a car crash in December last year. The wicketkeeper-batter is currently going through rehabilitation and will take at least six months to recover fully.
Speaking on Pant, Ponting revealed that he had a chat with the Team India star and is keen to have him for DC's home games at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
"Probably last week actually had a chat with him on the phone," he said in a video shared by the Capitals. "We’re really hoping that we are able to get him involved like I would love to have him at all our home games if we can.
"I know there might be some difficulties there for him, how he is gonna get around and things but just to have our captain sitting in the dugout or sitting up in the changing rooms, I think it’ll be special for everyone."
In the absence of Pant, senior opener David Warner will lead the Capitals in IPL 2023, which gets underway on Friday, March 31.
"He has been a successful franchise captain" - Ricky Ponting on David Warner
Ricky Ponting, who has seen David Warner's rise from close quarters, is confident that the Aussie opener will be successful as captain for the Capitals.
Warner has previous experience in leading a team in the IPL. He led SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) to their only title-winning campaign in 2016.
"I’ll just say a change in the leadership, David Warner, I think will do a great job," Ponting said. "We know he has been a successful franchise captain in the past, very experienced player, I think he will do a great job and I think he has got a great deputy in Axar Patel who has been one of us now and part of the Delhi family for five or six years and I think they will work really well together."
Delhi Capitals will begin their IPL 2023 campaign against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday, April 2.
