Following Rishabh Pant’s accident Australian legend Ricky Ponting had a telephonic conversation and expressed his love for the Indian cricketer.
“I absolutely love the bloke, I told him that on the phone the last couple of days,” Ponting told The ICC Review.
“It was a horrifying time, a really scary time for everybody, let alone him. Anyone that knows him loves him – he’s a really infectious young guy that has the world at his feet still.
“So we will keep our fingers crossed and hope that he can get back to playing sooner rather than later.”
“You can’t replace those guys, simple as that,” Ponting added.
Pant was caught in a horrific accident on 30 December while going to his hometown Roorkee from Delhi and miraculously survived the crash while his car turned to ashes.
Pant recently underwent his surgery and made a public statement first time since the accident, stating that his surgery was successful and he was on a path to recovery.
Pant is the captain of the IPL franchise Delhi Capitals and Ponting will resume his coaching duties soon as the 2023 season of IPL is around the corner. The head coach said that they will have to look for a replacement.
“They don’t grow on trees, players like that. We’ve got to look at – and we already are – a replacement to come into the squad, a wicketkeeper-batsman.”
“If he’s actually not physically fit enough to play, we’d still love to have him around,” Ponting explained.
“He’s the sort of cultural leader around the group, being the captain, and that attitude and infectious smile and laughs he has is what we all love so much about him.
“If he’s actually able to travel and be around the team, then I want him sitting beside me in the dugout every day of the week,” Ponting made an emotional suggestion.
While there has been no official statement from the wicketkeeper or the BCCI, reports have suggested that Pant will be out of action for the entirety of 2023 and a part of 2024 as well.
“I’ll certainly be making sure, come the middle of March when we get together in Delhi and start our camps and stuff, if he’s able to be there, then I want him around the whole time.”
“I think he’s ranked in the top six-seven Test batsmen in the world, isn’t he?” Ponting asked
Pant is currently seventh in the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings, and India’s highest-ranked batter.
Ponting further stated that he will be upset and that the cricketing fraternity across the globe as well will miss him in the Border-Gavaskar series.
“When he first started, we probably all thought he was going to be a better T20 and one-day batsman than a Test batsman, but it’s actually worked the other way. His Test cricket has been remarkable.
“Even the series coming up against Australia, the four-Test series there, we know how he played against Australia in Australia last time. He’d have been looking forward to that series, and the rest of the world would have been looking forward to watching him play.”
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