Ponting Feels India Did Wrong By Not Taking Pant In WC

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After being left out of the World Cup squad, youngster Rishabh Pant once again showed his true potential. This time he played a match-winning knock for DC against RR and won the game by 6 wickets.

Seeing his performance DC coach Ricky Ponting feels India made a huge mistake by not including Pant in World Cup. Instead of opting for Pant, the selectors went for experienced Dinesh Karthik.

However now the selectors might rue after witnessing Pant’s heroics against RR. DC never looked in trouble while chasing RR’s mammoth total of 192, thanks to Pant. Opener Shikhar Dhawan set the stage with a blazing fifty.

After that Pant came and scored 78 from just 36 balls and won the game with four balls remaining. The win was DC’s 7th win this season and it helped them move to the top of the table.

In the post-match interview, Ponting was all praise for Pant. He said that Pant was really disappointed after being not named in the World Cup squad. Ponting feels that Pant would have been destructive in England in middle overs against the spinners.

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“I know how disappointed he was to miss out on the World Cup. In my opinion, as well, I think India made the wrong choice there. I think he would have been absolutely devastating in English conditions through those middle over against spinners,” Ricky Ponting told Star Sports.

“Would have loved to see what he could have done in the World Cup. As I said at the time he was left out, he’s got the potential to play three or four more World Cups if he keeps himself fit and healthy. Someone as explosive as Rishabh likes a bit more pace on the ball. And we saw that tonight. Once he gets those sort of wickets he’s lethal. He got a wicket like that in Mumbai and he hit 70-odd off 20-odd balls,” added Ponting.

Ponting also praised other youngsters in the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Shreyas Iyer. “There are some awesome young talents. The average age of group is about 25. Guys like Prithvi and Pant and to an extend Shreyas, they are just kids and to a certain degree, they are learning a bit about the game and bit of themselves.

Rishabh himself, he is on a different planet. He is an ultra-talented guy, a real competitor and a winner. He loves these conditions. Some really good signs there going forward in the tournament,” said Ponting.