"Didn't see him hobbling at all after he called the physio out" - Ricky Ponting dismisses fitness concerns over Rishabh Pant

Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting dismissed fitness concerns about skipper Rishabh Pant after their IPL 2024 game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday, April 3.

While Pant sought the services of the physio during the game, Ponting put it down to tiredness, adding that the keeper-batter was not hobbling after receiving treatment.

KKR beat DC by 106 runs in Match 16 of IPL 2024 in Visakhapatnam. Batting first, Kolkata put up a mammoth 272-7 before restricting Delhi to 166. While DC went down rather tamely in the contest, captain Pant scored his second half-century in as many games.

While taking part in the game on Wednesday, he needed some assistance from the team physio. At a post-match press conference, though, Ponting allayed fears about Pant's fitness.

"I saw he called a physio out. It might have just been a bit of tiredness. Looked like he was moving pretty well when he batted. I think we should just concentrate on the way he batted tonight.

"I didn't see him hobbling at all after he called the physio out. I saw him doing a little bit of stretching, so there might be a little bit of cramp," the DC head coach said.

Ponting preferred to focus on Pant's batting in the last two games, describing it as a big positive.

"Pleased for him, what he did with the bat. A situation like that, where he had to go out and attack from the start is probably a scenario that he needed just to get some confidence back.

"He's actually had two good games with the bat now, which is great," the Aussie legend said.

Pant smacked 51 off 32 in the 20-run win over the Chennai Super Kings and contributed 55 off 25 against KKR on Wednesday.

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"Obviously, Rishabh hadn't heard them" - Ponting on Pant's DRS blunders

While Pant was impressive with the bat in hand, he had a disappointing day on the field.

He got two DRS calls wrong, giving reprieves to Sunil Narine and Shreyas Iyer. In the first instance, Pant's appeal was refused, as he had made the signal too late, while in the second case, he didn't take the review at all.

"Narine was missed, and then Iyer was missed later on. I am not sure what happened there.

"Obviously, Rishabh hadn't heard them. Other fielders and bowlers on the ground actually heard something on both occasions," Ponting said, while reflecting on the poor decisions.

The DC coach, though, termed the errors as little things, adding that they have bigger issues to deal with.

"At the end of the day, they are little things. There are other bigger concerns for us with the way that we bowled, some of the field placings we had set and just how long it's taking us to get around.

"We've been two overs down two games in a row," Ponting elaborated.

DC have made a poor start to IPL 2024, languishing in ninth position, with one win in four games.