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IPL 2021: Rishabh Pant hoping to use the learnings from MS Dhoni in a bid to outstage him

Newly-appointed Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant cannot wait for his captaincy stint to start especially due to the fact that his first match as a captain will be against his childhood idol Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings play their first match on 10th April at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Pant who was elevated as the DC skipper is hoping to use “learnings” from Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a bid to upstage him in their opening match of the competition. 

 

“My first match as captain will be against Mahi (MS Dhoni) bhai. It will be a good experience for me as I have learned a lot from him. I have my own experience as a player as well. I’ll apply my own experience and the learnings from MS Dhoni, and try to do something different against CSK,” Pant was quoted as saying in a press release by the Delhi Capitals. 

 

Pant had a forgettable time with the bat during the previous edition of the Indian Premier League. With the lockdown and players not able to practice much, Pant gained a lot of weight which affected his batting quite a lot. He was nowhere close to the same Rishabh Pant which we had seen in the previous seasons. However, he made a commendable comeback in the tour to Australia where he played a couple of series changing knocks. 

 

He played a sensational knock in the fourth and the final Test in Gabba which resulted in a historic series win for India Down-Under. He went from strength to strength and was at his stupendous best during the Test series against England. He smashed his first Test century at home and some of his shots oozed class and confidence. The southpaw had a great time with the bat in the limited-overs series as well and he will surely look to take the confidence to the IPL and hope to lead DC to their first IPL title. 


“I am looking forward to making most of this opportunity. We haven’t won a title yet and I will try my level best to get a title this year. We’ve been playing nicely as a team for last two-three years and our preparations are going on well. Everyone looks in a great frame of mind. Everyone is giving their 100 per cent and is happy in the team environment, and that’s what you want as a Captain,” Pant said. 


 

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting is the current head coach of the Delhi Capitals. Speaking on his influence in the team, Pant said that his presence always boosts the team to go and perform. He hopes to win the title with the help of Ponting and the whole team. 

 

“He (Ricky) has been so amazing for us in the last two-three years. He brings energy to the team and as a player when you see your coach and you’re thinking this is the man from whom you can learn a lot, then nothing is better than that. Hopefully, we will cross the line this year, with the help of Ricky and the whole team.”

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Who's faster between Kohli & Dhoni? Star Sports to introduce new metrics in IPL 14

One of the biggest stakeholders in the Indian Premier League since its inception are the fans. And for the second year in a row, the cash-rich league will be played without those ardent individuals with an eye on the COVID-19 situation. But host broadcaster Star India is keeping no stone unturned to ensure that the fan engagement rises to the next level after what was a terrific display of smart innovation to engage fans in the 13th edition in UAE. Just a few days before the start of the cash-rich league, Star Sports Head Sanjog Gupta has ascertained on how he wants to make sure that the spectators get an out of the box experience throughout the course of the tournament. "I can tell you that we are working very closely with our sound designers on enhancing the sound design from last year. There are going to be new chants as some of the rising players who are now not on the cusp of greatness are already in the midst of that journey. That forms a part of what we're calling our belief in verticals." Gupta said "So, there are three pillars or three verticals that form a part of the overall product experience, the first part is unique. The second one is interactivity. And the third one is emotion. In the viewing experience, we are looking at three components. One is the visual design, which is now that you do not have crowds in the stadium, you can get much closer to players with your camera angles, you can have a lot more replays. You can have many more ultra-motion and super slo-mo replays because you're not cutting around to the crowd." Gupta further added. The Star Sports head further revealed that the fans can actually get a proper understanding that who is the quicker between current India skipper Virat Kohli and the former India skipper MS Dhoni. This is among the many metrics that Star is looking to introduce in the upcoming edition of the extravaganza. "An interesting thing which I can tell you, which is more on the experience side is we are also looking at introducing new metrics for fielding so that we can objectively evaluate the fielding standards of teams and players. We are also looking at measuring certain skills that players have which are critical to the game, but have never been measured -- for example, running between the wickets." He explained that one the things Star is planning to do is to try and measure as much as possible, the speed of players both striker and non-striker. He stated that this will provide better data to the fans who want to know if it is MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli or for that matter AB de Villiers who runs the quickest between the wickets. "Here's an opportunity for us to take a scale of the game that's critical and measure it to figure out the answer to this question," Gupta concluded.