Pant is more productive in the top order, opines Gautam Gambhir

Discarded Indian opener and 2-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winning captain Gautam Gambhir is all set to sail in a new direction when the 2018 season kicks off. With the grandiose cricketing extravaganza less than a month away from commencement, all the teams have begun figuring out the best possible permutations and combinations. The auction for this season had been held earlier in January.

Gambhir has a new challenge coming into the Delhi set up. Their club despite the talented pool of players has been struggling to reap good results in the last few seasons. The GMR-owned franchise is hoping that the 36-year-old will change their fortunes. Daredevils had retained Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris, and Shreyas Iyer before the auction.

Speaking of Pant, the newly minted DD skipper said that the youngster will be more valuable if he bats at the top of the order. “My personal opinion is that if Pant plays in the top three, he’ll give us maximum returns,” Gambhir said in an exclusive chat with SportsKeeda. Pant has had an incredible domestic season, leading Delhi to the Mushtaq Ali T20 triumph.

It’s beneficial to have Ponting around: Gambhir

One of the greatest cricketers of all time, Ricky Ponting will be joining the DD set up as the head coach. Gambhir said that it’s nice to have someone in the dressing room who has experienced everything in life, from the glorious ups to the demoralizing downs. He said if a player is not in good touch, he’ll benefit a lot having the legendary Australian cricketer around.

“He’s a winner and has gone through all sort of situations, has won the World Cup thrice. Despite that, he has had his fair share of ups and downs, both as a player and as a captain. He has led Australia for a considerable amount of time and it’s beneficial for everyone involved if a winner comes into your group,” the former KKR captain opined.

Gambhir didn’t induce a massive bidding war as many expected. But he eventually ended up with his old franchise and hometown club Delhi Daredevils. He had represented the Daredevils earlier from 2008-2010. But he earned a reputation as an IPL legend during his glorious stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders, where he led the side to two championships and also made them one of the most followed cricketing clubs of all time.

When asked about the challenges he faces as a captain Gauti said, “Captaincy in the IPL is a challenge as you have a talented bunch of players. There are eight foreigners but we can only get in four, 16-17 Indian players but we can make only seven of them start. So it is paramount that the players get ample opportunity to showcase their skills.”

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