"He's a winner…" Ricky Ponting lavishes praise on Rishabh Pant's remarkable comeback from injury

Ricky Ponting lavished massive praise on ‘match-winner’ Rishabh Pant.

Legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting lavished praise on Indian wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant for making a remarkable comeback from his injury. Notably, Pant suffered severe injuries due to a life-threating accident in December 2022, which kept him out of cricketing actions for more than a year.

After surviving a life-threating accident, Pant went through the intensive rehabilitation with the consultation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) medical team. Pant was then declared fit to take part in the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL) for the Delhi Capitals (DC).

After playing the whole IPL 2024 season for DC, Pant then made his India comeback and was included in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 squad, which lift the title.

The 26-year-old then made his ODI comeback for the Indian cricket team during the Sri Lanka white-ball tour earlier this year. Recently, the Indian selection committee named Pant in the test squad for the first match of the two-match series against Bangladesh, starting September 19 in Chennai.

Didn’t think Rishabh Pant would have played IPL 2024: Ricky Ponting

Former Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting hailed Pant for making a remarkable comeback from the life-threating accident in 2022. The legendary cricketer further expressed that he didn’t think Pant would have played IPL 2024 after having severe injuries.

“It’s a remarkable comeback. If you can see even his leg now and listen to the stories he tells about what he confronted during his car accident, just the mental scarring that comes with that but the physical side and the rehab he went through, I didn’t think he would play last year’s IPL (2024),” Ricky Ponting told to Sky Sports.

Ponting revealed that Pant assured him of making a comeback right before the IPL 2024 season. The former DC head coach said that the management thought of using Pant as the Impact Player, but he played every game in the 2024 edition. Ponting also called Pant a infectious character within a team.

“But 12 months before, he said ‘Don’t worry about me, I guarantee you I’ll be right for the IPL’. We thought he’ll be able to bat and we might have to use him as a sub player (Impact Player) but he kept every game, was one of our leading run-scorers, bats No. 3 in the T20 World Cup and is part of a World Cup winning team and is named in the Test squad now,” Ponting added.

“It’s a remarkable comeback and we’ve all seen him play and heard him in the stump mic, he’s an infectious character to have around the group. He loves his cricket, he’s a winner, that’s what he is,” said Ponting.

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