Rishabh Pant deserves to be in India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad: Ricky Ponting

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting acknowledged the depth in Indian cricket but felt that Rishabh Pant should make it to India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 in June.

The Capitals received a huge boost ahead of the commencement of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season as their regular captain Pant received clearance from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to take part in the ten-team tournament. The wicketkeeper-batter suffered a near-fatal accident, which kept him on the sidelines for 14 months. However, since his comeback, the southpaw has shown exactly why he is rated as one of the most gifted batters in modern-day cricket.

Ponting praised the likes of Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, and KL Rahul, while lauding the depth of Indian cricket but asserted that Pant should be the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter during the Men in Blue's T20 World Cup 2024 campaign.

"Do I believe whether Rishabh should be there in the World Cup squad? Absolutely I do. He deserves to be in that WT20 squad by the end of the IPL, I think we have seen Rishabh play the way we have seen him play in the last six seasons of IPL and now back playing for India. One thing we certainly know that there is a lot of depth around Indian cricket, with keeper batters and I feel some guys are in really good form at the moment. Kishan is playing well, Samson is playing well and KL Rahul is playing well, there's a lot of options there but if I was picking a team, I would have Rishabh Pant in it every day of the week," Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying by India Today.

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A look at Rishabh Pant's performances in IPL 2024

The 26-year-old started slowly with the bat as he failed to capitalise on his starts in Delhi's first two matches in IPL 2024. However, Pant has registered scores of 51 (32), 55 (25), and 41 (24) in three out of his last four innings. In six innings, the flamboyant batter has scored 194 runs at an average of 32.33 and a strike rate of 157.72. He has hit 16 fours and 11 sixes during the campaign.

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Pant is also looking quite sharp on the field, accentuating the amount of hard work he has put into his fitness during rehabilitation. He will be in action once again on Wednesday, April 17 as the Capitals take on Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The Capitals have won two and lost four out of their six matches in IPL 2024.