It was a 2018 to remember for Rishabh Pant with the young India wicketkeeper batsman being named as the Emerging Cricketer of the Year in the annual ICC Awards while also finding a place in the Men’s Test outfit of the year.
Now, the rising star has come in for some big praise from former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting who has compared him to legendary wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.
“He is a real talent and an incredibly good ball striker. He has got a really good game sense as well. He is someone who could play a lot of Test cricket for India across formats. He has got to do a bit of work on his keeping and he will also become a better batsman,” Ponting was quoted as saying by the ICC.
Pant’s debut year in international cricket saw him become the first Indian wicketkeeper to register overseas Test tons in England as well as Australia and Ponting has backed him to surpass veteran MS Dhoni.
Pant’s had a stellar introduction to international cricket.
“We talk about MS Dhoni all the time and his impact on Indian cricket. He played a lot of Tests for India but made only six Test hundreds,” said Ponting.
“This kid will make a lot more Test hundreds than that. We talk about him in the commentary box and he is sort of like another Adam Gilchrist,” he added.
Pant was among three Indian cricketers to find a place in ICC’s Test Team of the Year which saw Virat Kohli being selected as the skipper. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah was the other India man to find a place in the squad.
