IPL 2021: With Ponting around, my captaincy is going great, says Pant

After registering a six-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant gave an insight into his leadership style and how he has benefitted from having Ricky Ponting as the head coach.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra spun a web over Mumbai Indians before Shikhar Dhawan and Steve Smith played knocks of 45 and 33 respectively as Delhi Capitals registered a win here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday. Mishra had picked four wickets to help Delhi Capitals restrict Mumbai Indians to 137/9.

"I think, yes, as a wicketkeeper I keep on reading the game and it helps me a lot. With seniors around and Ricky Ponting in our management, I think my captaincy is going great," said Rishabh while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.

Delhi played its first three games in Mumbai and then the side has moved to Chennai to play its next set of matches. When asked about the difficulty of travelling in such times, Pant said: "I think it's slightly challenging because of Covid. But as a team, we are not focusing on outside things. BCCI has done really well to give us a good bubble and travelling thing. We are focusing more on cricket."

Delhi Capitals needed 15 runs in the last two overs and Shimron Hetmyer and Lalit Yadav ensured the side didn't falter at the end. Moreover, Jasprit Bumrah's two no-balls in the penultimate over made the job a lot easier for the batsmen.

"As a player, you do not focus much on match-ups. Every day is a new day, I had to go for my shots because we were chasing, so you need to focus more on scenarios as compared to matchups," said Pant.

"We were thinking to bat first also so I do not think Rohit's decision to bat first was a bad one," he added.

Mumbai Indians were cruising towards a mammoth total having scored 55 runs in the first six overs against Delhi but Mishra wreaked havoc and dismantled the batting order removing Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, and Ishan Kishan.

(ANI)

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