NEWS
Follow UsRishabh Pant will take the field for the first time as Delhi Capitals (DC) captain when steps out to face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) second match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Mumbai. He said that it will be extra special to walk out the toss with MS Dhoni.
"It will be extra special to walk out for the toss with MS Dhoni tomorrow. This will be the first time that I will be leading an IPL team and the first match is against Mahi bhai. I have learned a lot from him, and I have gained a lot of experience from him. Hopefully, I can use this experience against him, and we can win this match. That's what I am looking forward to," Pant said in a statement.
Pant further went on to say that it is good that he has a great mix of youth and experience in the side, which would benefit him as captain. "I have been talking to the senior players like Shikhar Dhawan, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane about the fields we can set and other strategic decisions for the team. I have been talking to Ricky and our bowling coach James Hopes as well. There's a good mix of seniors and juniors in our squad and I think with the help of Ricky, we can do something different this year," the DC skipper added.
Speaking about his first match as captain, Pant reckoned that there is not going to be much of a change when it comes to setting the field. "I haven't thought about the fact that it's my first match as captain in the IPL. I am just going to keep things simple and give my 100 percent. You get a good idea about setting fields as a wicketkeeper and now as captain, I will be making the changes in the field directly. So, there's not going to be much of a difference for me."
Pant did not have a particularly good season in the UAE last year, where he slammed just one fifty from 14 matches and scored at a strike-rate of 114. In the absence of regular skipper Shreyas Iyer, Pant will have to shoulder a little more responsibility in the batting department as well.
DC head coach Ricky Ponting reckons DC need to go into the game against three-time champions CSK with the right attitude.
"CSK have got a good squad of players and they've got lots of flexibility and a lot of options. But we've got a great squad as well and we want to build on last season. I have said to the boys that it's not about last season, but there are a lot of positives that we can take from the way we have played in the last couple of seasons," Ponting said.
"Although we've got a slightly different squad, we expect to play better as a group and achieve some better results. So, for us, Chennai Super Kings is just game one. We need to approach it with the right attitude and play well. Hopefully, win that game and move onto the second game. But we know that we'll have to play well to win," he added.