Dhoni reached 5 hundreds after 90 Tests: Ponting warns Australia not to underestimate IND star's performance

Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, has praised Rishabh Pant as a true winner and believes that the India wicketkeeper-batter's contributions to his country in a short span of time showcase his greatness. Pant, at the age of 26, has solidified his position in all three formats for India, impressively bouncing back from an injury earlier this year. With India preparing for a challenging tour of Australia, Pant is once again expected to play a crucial role in their quest for a third consecutive Test series victory Down Under.

Due to his playfulness and stump mic chatter, Pant is often considered a 'fun' player, but Ponting warned opponents not to get fooled by that narrative and reckons that he is as serious a player as any. Pant was recently in action for India B in the first-round Duleep Trophy match, where he scored 7 and 61. He was seen having a fun banter with Kuldeep his India teammate Kuldeep Yadav and even snuck into the opposition team huddle. That however should not camouflage the competitiveness of Pant, mentions Ponting.

"We've all seen him play and heard him in the stump mic, he's an infectious character to have around the group. He loves his cricket, he's a winner, that's what he is. He doesn't just play to make a few runs and be out there for the fun of it. He must have 4 or 5 Test hundreds already and he's got about nine 90s as well. [MS] Dhoni played for 120 Tests (90) and made 3 or 4 hundreds (6), this is how good this guy (Pant) is. He's a serious cricketer," Ponting said on .

Pant was one of the many heroes of India's remarkable 2-1 series win the last time around. His swashbuckling 97 in Sydney got India to pull off a sensational draw, before an unbeaten 89 in Brisbane breached fortress Gabba. Prior to it, during the 2018/19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Pant's 118 at Sydney was a sign of things to come. From 33 Tests, Pant has scored 2271 runs at an average of 43.67 including five centuries, four of which have come in SENA Nations.

But mostly, it's Pant's never-say-die attitude that impresses Ponting the most. Ponting, the former coach of Delhi Capitals, was in constant touch with Pant throughout his recover process and was simply blown away by how confident Rishabh was about making his storied comeback.

"It's a remarkable comeback. If you can see even his leg now and listen to the stories he tells about what he confronted during his car accident, just the mental scarring that comes with that but the physical side and the rehab he went through, I didn't think he would play last year's IPL (2024),"Ponting said.

"But 12 months before, he said 'Don't worry about me, I guarantee you I'll be right for the IPL'. We thought he'll be able to bat and we might have to use him as a sub player (Impact Player) but he kept every game, was one of our leading run-scorers, bats No. 3 in the T20 World Cup and is part of a World Cup winning team and is named in the Test squad now."