Pant is a huge loss, and no matter who we bring in, we will still miss Rishabh. I’m not going to make light of it or try to gloss over the fact that he is one of the best players in the world in all three formats of the game When asked how he plans to fill the maverick keeper-slot, batter’s Ponting was as direct as a ramrod.
    He (Pant) is ranked in the top five among Test batsmen in the world and obviously our leader and has been our No. 4 batter in the middle-order and finisher for us and replacing him is going to be pretty much impossible, said the former Australian captain during an interaction with select media.
    However, a young Mumbai all-rounder Aman Hakim Khan has caught Ponting’s attention and he seemed interested in his talent having watched a couple of net sessions at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
    Aman Khan has really impressed us, and we traded Shardul (Thakur) with KKR to get him in, and he has been ultra-impressive, and I don’t know how much you have seen of him, and his last couple of days at training have been pretty special, Ponting said of the youngster.
    However, he agreed that it will take multiple players to provide that power-hitting impact in the middle order to compensate for Pant’s absence. So when we talk about losing some middle-order power, Aman Khan, Rovman Powell, and someone like Axar Patel, whose batting has improved a lot in the last 12 months, we will find ways to cover for Rishabh but we will not get the same quality player, the Tasmanian said.
    Warner will continue to open new doors for DC.David Warner batted at number four for Australia in the recently concluded third One-Day International against India, but the skipper for this edition will continue to open, a position where he has had all of his success over the last decade.
    I don’t want Warner to bat fourth. He is one of the most prolific openers in IPL history. I believe we saw him play for DC last year. He was our leading run-scorer and won the most games with his own batting. And he is such a competitive guy, the guy at the top of the order, and you know he can take on the game. He is skilled, experienced, and he is our leader Ponting explained.
    Marsh will be seen bowling in the IPL.Mitchell Marsh has been a revelation as an opener during the India series, and he will undoubtedly play a significant role in the DC top-order, aside from bowling a few medium-pace overs, which he hasn’t done since returning from ankle surgery.
    For us, he’ll be a top-order batter/all-rounder. I believe he is in the best shape I have seen him in, and he has had three to four months rest in Australia to recover from ankle surgery he had in November Ponting explained.
    He hasn’t bowled in a game yet, but he’s been bowling for the past 5-6 weeks, and his role in this team will be to bowl some overs as well, which he knows and understands.
    Prithvi is in the best shape I’ve ever seen him in.The work ethic of the immensely talented Prithvi Shaw has been called into question on numerous occasions, but Ponting believes that special things are on the way for the Mumbai lad, who has been working extremely hard.
    He (Shaw) has been at the NCA for training and has worked and trained harder than anyone I’ve ever seen. He is in better physical shape than I have ever seen him, and I spoke with him the other day about his attitude and how he is training; this will be his most important IPL season.
    He just has that different look in his eyes, and you can see he is hungrier than ever, and you will see the level of talent and ability he has. As a coach, Ponting has always found it disappointing when talented players do not make full use of their abilities.
    It is documented that I had some issues early on, and it is all about being true to yourself and being the best version of yourself that you can be. One thing I always tell players is that I don’t like laziness or guys who don’t use their talent Ponting stated. Ponting believes something clicked this season with Prithvi, and he appears to be in a better place than ever before. The game will take away from you if you don’t pay full attention, Ponting says flatly.
    ‘The impact player rule will devalue all-rounders.’This season’s IPL will feature The ‘Impact Player’ rule allows a batter or bowler to be replaced in the middle of a game depending on the match situation, making the game more innovative and interesting.
    Ponting was unafraid to admit that in the age of ‘Impact Substitution,’ bits and pieces cricketers will become extinct. Actually, it almost eliminates the role of all-rounders in the game now because you don’t need to select all-rounders, name a batting or bowling heavy team, and simply take one out and bring another one in.
    Unless they (all-rounders) are absolutely world class and could be picked as a batter or bowler rather than a bits and pieces guy, I don’t think you’ll see many teams actually use the guy who bats at No. 7 and bowls an over or two. So, in the event that the team bowls second, a veteran like Ishant Sharma, who is nearing the end of his career, could be a good ‘Impact Player’?
    Yes, potentially. What we will learn from each franchise is how they intend to use him (Impact Player), and because of players, we only learned about Impact players after the auction. Actually, we have to make do with what we have, and if we had known before the auction, we would have approached it differently He went on to say.

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