Sunil Gavaskar opined that Rishabh Pant should make sure that MS Dhoni doesn’t put his arm around his shoulders when they walk out for the toss. The former India skipper and legendary batsman feels that Pant should walk away from Dhoni and not get overawed by the situation.
The match between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings, which was game number two in the IPL 2021, was Rishabh Pant’s debut game as Delhi Capitals captain. He couldn’t have had a better game for his captaincy debut as it came against his mentor MS Dhoni.
Before the game, the 23-year-old wicket-keeper batsman admitted that he was very excited to lead Delhi, especially against Dhoni’s CSK. He has learned a lot from the former India captain. However, that wasn’t taken well by Sunil Gavaskar. The former India skipper and legendary batsman added that Pant should not allow Dhoni to put his arms around his shoulders as it sends out a wrong signal. He feels that it gives out a message stating that Dhoni is the ‘big guy’ while Pant is the ‘little guy’. Gavaskar also felt that Pant shouldn’t be overawed by the aura of Dhoni as well.
Sunil Gavaskar was quoted saying in a chat with Star Sports ahead of the match between DC and CSK.
“It’s going to bring to the table an exciting game for sure. The one thing I would like Rishabh Pant to do when he goes out for the toss is that if there is no social distancing, I just want him to make sure that he doesn’t allow MS Dhoni to put his arms around his shoulders. That sometimes can be a sign of somebody who is saying ‘Listen, you’re a little guy, I’m the big guy’. So that little worry signal he should try and avoid,”
Delhi started off their 2021 campaign with a win as they hunted down 189 with eight balls to spare against CSK.
