IPL 2021: MS Dhoni has been my go-to man, have learnt a lot from him – Rishabh Pant

Delhi Capitals’ newly appointed skipper Rishabh Pant had a good start to his leadership stint as his team defeated Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday. Pant stated it was a proud moment for him to lead his team against MS Dhoni, whom he always looked up to.

The Delhi wicket-keeper batsman revealed Dhoni has been his go-to man and he has learnt a lot from the master. Dhoni has always given confidence to the youngsters and has given valuable tips to Pant in the past.

Pant has grown in confidence in the last six months and he is playing at the top of his game. The wicket-keeper batsman looked calm while leading DC in their first match in the absence of full-time skipper Shreyas Iyer who has been ruled out due to a shoulder injury.

Rishabh Pant said in the post-match presentation, “It always feels good when you get the win in the end. In the middle phase, I was under some pressure. But Avesh and Tom (Curran) did well in the middle to restrict them to 188. It was very special walking out for the toss with MS. He has been my go-to man. I have learnt a lot from him. We were thinking as to what we will do without Nortje and Rabada and I thought we had to do with the options we have. No, there was no effort for the NRR as it is still early stages of the tournament”.

On the other hand, CSK had set up a competitive total of 188 runs after Pant won the toss and decided to bowl first. Suresh Raina scored 54 from 36 balls whereas Sam Curran added the finishing touches for CSK. However, Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan gave a perfect start to DC as they added 138 runs for the opening alliance to set up the run-chase.

Pant added, “Prithvi and Shikhar did well for us in the powerplay. They kept it simple and played some good cricketing shots”. 

Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant scored the winning runs for his team as he smashed Shardul Thakur’s towards the mid-wicket boundary. Pant will aim to get the best out of his players in the coming matches.

DC will play their next match against Rajasthan Royals at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 15th April.