'You're a good player. Just relax': Delhi Capitals batter
While the focus on captaincy in the IPL 2022 has largely been on MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya, Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant has wowed everyone with his leadership. Pant, who has been tipped as a future India captain, has had more hits than misses thus far in his IPL captaincy. Pant has guided DC to the playoffs in IPL 2021 since taking over from Shreyas Iyer last year, and the team is now ranked fifth on the points table this season. Pant is hitting the right notes, as evidenced by the fact that almost every DC player has praised him in an interview or two.
Kuldeep Yadav even went so far as to claim that Pant mentors him in the same way that MS Dhoni did for India. There can't possibly be a higher compliment than that. Similarly, Rovman Powell of DC commented about Pant's backing when he originally had a couple of low-key appearances for the franchise.
"I had a conversation with Rishabh. He came to my room after I failed in the first two games. He just reinforced the fact and said, 'Listen, you're a good player. Just relax. You will play more matches. These are just the first few games in the IPL. No matter how good a player you are, it takes time adjusting. It's the best league in the world after all'. And I gradually realised it. I am kind of impacting the game for the Delhi Capitals and hopefully I can keep doing more to increase our chances of reaching the Playoffs," Powell mentioned while DC podcast.
Powell, who gets along well with Pant, talked about his friendship with his captain at DC.
In addition, Powell said the following, "We message. We talk over the phone. Not necessarily cricket. But a lot of other things. He shares his story with me, I do mine. We have a lot of similarities in that regard. We come from poor by humble background and now we're both using cricket as a driving force to take out family out of poverty. So, we talk along that line. We bond over food. It's good to have a captain, who, even when you lose games, remains calm."
