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Indian Premier League 2020

Rishabh Pant pranks Ricky Ponting during on-air pitchside chat

by Wisden Staff 1-minute read

Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on an eventful day at IPL 2020, with Shikhar Dhawan scoring his first century in T20 cricket, but arguably the highlight came off the field of play, as Rishabh Pant pranked his coach Ricky Ponting.

Ponting was chatting with the pundits of the host broadcast Star Sports when Pant, currently sidelined from action due to an injury, decided to make an appearance. As Ponting fielded questions about everything from pitch conditions to tackling CSK, Pant slid up behind him and nodded away in mock agreement.

It went on for a while before Marcus Stoinis, sitting in the dugout, smiled at Pant and seemingly suggested he cut it out before the gaffer caught him, but the warning didn’t come soon enough. The pundits in the studio warned Ponting that there was something happening behind him, and he turned around, first in the wrong direction, before turning again to find the youngster pulling a face.

Perhaps there was a moment there in which everyone, Stoinis mostly, was afraid how Ponting would react. Thankfully for all concerned, the former Australian captain, with a reputation for being a no-nonsense character, has mellowed with age. He burst into laughter, in a moment that perhaps underlined the positive mood in the DC camp.

After Pant went off, Ponting said: “I wouldn’t mind him out there rather than sitting in the dugout.” Of course, Ponting wasn’t only speaking of Pant’s batting skills, there.

Unsurprisingly, Pant’s prank was a hit among the fans.

But the most pertinent observation was this – can you imagine anyone trying something like this with Ponting 10 years back?

In case reading about it hasn’t done it for you, you can watch the whole video too – just click here.

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