IPL 2023: Players like Pant don't grow on trees, you can't replace them, says DC head coach Ponting

Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting has heaped praise on captain Rishabh Pant, saying "players like him don't grow on trees and you can't replace them."

Pant may be ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 but Ponting wants the skipper to be around the DC side during the tournament if he has recovered well enough.

The Indian wicketkeeper-batsman met with a scary car accident last month on the Dehradun-Delhi highway. Pant, who suffered many injuries, underwent surgery in Mumbai recently and is expected to be out of action for at least six months.

"I want him sitting beside me in the dugout every day of the week. If he's actually not physically fit enough to play, we'd still love to have him around. He's the sort of cultural leader around the group, being the captain, and that attitude and infectious smile and laugh he has is what we all love so much about him. I'll certainly be making sure, come the middle of March when we get together in Delhi and start our camps and stuff, if he's able to be there, then I want him around the whole time," Ponting told the ICC review.

"If he's actually able to travel and be around the team, then I want him sitting beside me in the dugout every day of the week. I'll certainly be making sure, come the middle of March when we get together in Delhi and start our camps and stuff, if he's able to be there, then I want him around the whole time," added Ponting.

Pant tore three key ligaments in his knee, two of which were reconstructed on January 7, while surgery on the third is expected in February.

Meanwhile, DC head coach Ponting said that the team have been searching for a wicketkeeper-batter to replace Pant, but he also stressed on how difficult that search could be.

"I absolutely love the bloke, I told him that on the phone the last couple of days. It was a horrifying time, a really scary time for everybody, let alone him. Anyone that knows him loves him – he's a really infectious young guy that has the world at his feet still.

"So we will keep our fingers crossed and hope that he can get back to playing sooner rather than later. You can't replace those guys, simple as that. They don't grow on trees, players like that. We've got to look at – and we already are – a replacement to come into the squad, a wicketkeeper-batsman," added Ponting.

Pant, who made his IPL debut in 2016, has been associated with DC since his maiden season in the Indian T20 league. He has scored 2,838 runs at a strike-rate of 147.97 in 98 matches, including a century and 15 fifties.