1. Home
  2. Ricky Ponting backs Rishabh, Ganguly terms him 'huge asset'

Ricky Ponting backs Rishabh, Ganguly terms him 'huge asset'

Agencies
March 19, 2019

New Delhi, Mar 19: Ricky Ponting Tuesday unequivocally backed Rishabh Pant for the number four slot in India's World Cup line-up and even saw him as one capable of winning the tournament.

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly marked the young wicketkeeper-batsman as one for the future, calling him a "huge asset".

With little over two months to go for the World Cup and the number four batsman yet to be decided, it could now boil down to performance in the Indian Premier League, according to Ganguly.

But Ponting, a two-time World Cup winning Australian captain, left nothing to doubt when discussions turned to Pant.

"The first thing I would do is pick him in that Indian squad for the World Cup, I would play him as a batter, I would play him at number four. He is the sort of guy, with that kind of talent, he can win you a World Cup, he has just got that x-factor," Ponting said.

Ganguly added, "Anybody who wants to succeed in shorter formats of the game he has to go up, we have seen the best in the world do that. If you send Rishabh at number four, he will score runs for you because he is so talented, he has got so much time to play.

"In his short career he has been remarkable for India and once he starts getting opportunity consistently, he will be a top player."

Pant had a terrific start to his Test career, becoming the first Indian wicketkeeper to score centuries in England and Australia, but there is a perception that he hasn't shown the temperament or tasted as much success in the shorter formats.

During an interaction organised by the Delhi Capitals, Ganguly didn't agree with the viewpoint.

"Look at the way he played in the IPL last year, he got a full tournament, 14 games, and he was probably the second highest run-getter in the IPL last year.

"The problem with him in shorter formats is that he doesn't get regular cricket because you have a champion in MS Dhoni who actually plays most of the shorter formats, so Rishabh is coming in and going out all the time and that's never good for anybody, however quality a player you are," Ganguly said.

Pant's exploits with the willow has taken the cricket world by storm in recent months.

Ganguly said, "The reason he succeeds in Test cricket is because he plays consistently. How many Indian wicketkeeper-batsmen have got Test hundreds in England and Australia, and he scored them at ease. It's not that he struggled, it's not that he looked out of place against fast bowling.

"For me, he is your future. For the next 10 years, you will see that boy a lot in all formats of the game and not because he plays for Delhi, he can play for anyone he wants to."

Pant will be eyeing a successful IPL with the rechristened Delhi Capitals.

"Just the serious talent he is, he is a hard worker, I have been watching him at nets for the last four years, he is always the first one to come out and bat for longer periods. He will be huge asset to Indian cricket in the years to come," said Ganguly.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi Jul 30: After Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal's ban was reduced to 18 months, Danish Kaneria criticised Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) policies and said that the 'zero tolerance policy' applies only to him.

"Zero Tolerance policy only apply on Danish Kaneria not on others, can anybody answer the reason why I get life ban not others, Are policy applies only on cast, colour, and powerful background. I am Hindu and proud of it that's my background and my dharma," Kaneria tweeted.

Earlier on Wednesday, Akmal's three-year suspension was reduced to 18 months by an independent adjudicator, former Pakistan Supreme Court judge, Faqir Mohammad Khokhar.

On April 27, the Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel, Justice (retd) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan, had banned the wicketkeeper-batsman for three years after finding him guilty of breaching the PCB's Anti-Corruption Code in two separate incidents.

Akmal, on May 19, filed an appeal against the three-year ban imposed on him, seeking a reduction in the duration of the sanction. He will remain suspended effectively from February 2020 till August 2021.

The batsman said he might appeal again to get the ban "reduced further".

"I am thankful to the judge for listening to my lawyers properly. I will decide about the remaining sentence and try to get it reduced further. For now I am not satisfied and will consult my lawyers and family how to take this ahead," ESPNcricinfo had quoted Akmal as saying.

"There are many players before me who made mistakes and just look at what they got and what I got. So all I say right now is thank you very much," he had added.

On the other hand, Kaneria was found guilty of spot-fixing while playing for English club Essex and was banned from the sport.

Earlier this month, Pakistan's cricket governing body 'advised' Kaneria to approach England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) if he wants to play domestic cricket after the cricketer had appealed to the PCB, seeking permission to play domestic cricket. 

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
February 7,2020

New Delhi, Feb 7: It was on February 7, 1999, that Anil Kumble became just the second bowler in the history of cricket to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He achieved the feat against Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, now known as Arun Jaitley cricket stadium in Delhi during the second Test of the two-match series.

India had set Pakistan a target of 420 runs in the match and the visitors got off to a steady start as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar put on 101 runs for the first wicket.

It was then Kumble who came into the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.

The spinner, also known as 'Jumbo' first dismissed Afridi (41) in the 25th over. After the right-handed batter's dismissal, India kept on taking wickets through Kumble and Pakistan was reduced to 128/6 in no time.

Kumble then kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and he got his tenth scalp in the 61st over after dismissing Wasim Akram.

This effort enabled India to register a win by 212 runs, and Kumble became the second bowler after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in a single Test inning.

Kumble finished with the bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs.

Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 and finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 2,2020

Melbourne, May 2: After becoming the number one side in Test cricket, Australia's head coach Justin Langer has said that his team has won back the respect of the country.

Australia dethroned India from the top spot in Tests and now the Men in Blue are in the third place.

Langer came in as the coach of Australia after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and it took him some time to get the side back to winning ways.

Ever since the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia went on to become a commendable side and the results reflect that.

"We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be. But over the last couple of years, not only have we performed well on the field, we have performed well off it. We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia," Langer said in an official statement.

"When we started on this journey, there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No. 1 in the world in all three forms of the game.

We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No. 1 ranked in the world. We wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of," he added.

In the latest ICC rankings update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC men's Test team rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place.

India is now third with 114 points. With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.

The closest for the top three teams were in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

Australia has also moved to the top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time in the format.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.