'Rishabh Pant can be better than MS Dhoni, can win matches on his own': Parthiv Patel

Highlighting Rishabh Pant's red-hot form across formats since India's tour of Australia, former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel has confidently remarked that the young gun can be 'better' than former skipper MS Dhoni as well. Ahead of the IPL 2021, Patel asserted that Pant had been 'burdened' with comparisons of MS Dhoni, however, the now Delhi skipper does not need to worry about the same. Pant, who has reprised the role of the wicketkeeper-batsman vacated by MS Dhoni, has often been compared with the former India skipper in his failures and successes alike. 

"I think Rishabh Pant carries a lot of confidence with him and that is what you want when you are playing a T20 game. You don't want any doubts in your mind and especially a player like Pant. He was burdened with comparison of MS Dhoni and he also tried to do that, but he himself is a brilliant player. He can be better than MS Dhoni or he can win matches on his own every given time," Parthiv Patel said while speaking on Star Sports. 

In the same segment, Patel also analysed the Mumbai squad for the upcoming IPL season. Stating that the 4-time champions won't miss home advantage this season, Patel remarked that Mumbai will not have to tinker their playing XI. 

"I don't think Mumbai will be thinking of where they are playing next. All the teams would be thinking about where they are playing first and you know, try and get their best team forward, try and get their best XI on the path," Patel added. 

Rishabh Pant appointed Delhi captain 

With Shreyas Iyer being ruled out of the IPL 2021, Delhi have appointed young gun Rishabh Pant as the skipper for the upcoming season. Notably, Pant played a key role in Delhi's successful campaign back in 2019 and in 2020 when it reached the season finale. This will be Rishabh Pant’s debut as IPL captain. The 23-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman has captained Delhi’s state team in the past.

Throwing weight behind Rishabh Pant's appointment as the Delhi captain, Iyer said that the young gun was the 'best man' for the job. “When I sustained the shoulder injury, and Delhi Capitals needed a leader for this edition of the IPL, I had no doubt that Rishabh would be the best man for the job. He has all my good wishes to make amazing things happen with our absolutely incredible team. I’m going to miss the team tremendously, and will be cheering for them throughout,” Iyer said in a statement.