Everyone can’t be MS Dhoni, need give Rishabh Pant time to improve: Says Ashish Nehra
Former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra considers it unfair to compare Rishabh Pant with MS. Dhoni.
“Everyone cannot be a MS Dhoni, who came in and won the T20 World Cup directly in 2007. Give Pant some time to improve,” said Ashish Nehra during an interaction on Cricbuzz.
Rahul Tripathi smashed a six in the penultimate ball as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Delhi Capitals (DC) by three wickets in the second Indian Premier League (IPL) qualifier in Sharjah on Wednesday to set up a title clash with Chennai Super Kings.
Under Pant’s captaincy, DC ended the round robin league stage with 20 points. However, they lost both their Qualifiers and bowed out of the tournament.
Pant has made a couple of tactical blunders in the last two games, but Ashish Nehra feels that he is very young and will improve in the next season.
“Pant should be retained as DC captain for next season. The more he plays, the better he will get. There is no doubt about that. The sooner he learns, the better for him and the franchise. Keeping aside a few tactical mistakes that he made, he was good as captain,” said Ashish Nehra.
Opting to bowl, KKR dished out another superlative bowling display to restrict Delhi Capitals to 135 for 5 on a slow Sharjah track.
Venkatesh Iyer (55) and Shubman Gill (46) then shared 96 runs for the opening wicket but KKR lost five wickets, adding just seven runs to stare at defeat.
But Tripathi smashed the much-needed six to snatch the win from the jaws of defeat.
Earlier, invited to bat, DC opener Shikhar Dhawan struggled his way to a 39-ball 36 but couldn’t break the shackles. Prithvi Shaw (18) looked good in his brief stay, while comeback man Marcus Stoinis (18) got the start but couldn’t capitalise on it.
In the 18th over, Shimron Hetmyer (17) unleashed two sixes off Lockie Ferguson after getting a second lease of life, while Shreyas Iyer (30 not out) hit a four and a last-ball six in the 20th over to take DC to a competitive score.
