Ricky Ponting Backed Abhishek Sharma’s Stay at Delhi Capitals in 2018

Ricky Ponting was the first IPL coach of Abhishek Sharma when he made his league debut in 2018. The former Australian captain revealed that he pushed the case for Abhishek’s retention at Delhi Capitals, however, the franchise owners had other plans.

By looking at the current form of Abhishek Sharma, Ricky Ponting has high hopes for him in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026. He believes Abhishek is a genuine star who could score plenty of runs for India in the upcoming tournament.

"I was his first IPL coach. He debuted with me, I think as a 17-year-old at Delhi and made an immediate impact. I think he hit his first ball for four or six straight back over the bowler's head with that classical sort of straight bat and held the pose. And you could just see then as a 17-year-old that there was something extra special.” said Ricky Ponting on the ICC review.

He added that despite his repeated requests, the Delhi Capitals management didn’t retain Abhishek Sharma. Being a head coach, he had an idea about the talent of Abhishek, who impressed everyone very early in his career.

"We ended up trading him away from Delhi, but I pleaded and pleaded and pleaded and said, please don't do this. We've got to [keep him], there's an absolute superstar in the making here. And that's what it's turned out to be. I've got really high hopes for him this time." said Ricky Ponting.

The former Australian captain then described the importance of Abhishek Sharma for India, saying he could be a very important player for them in the upcoming mega event.

"[It's] a real positive to be honest. He can be the leading run-scorer and potentially the Player of the Tournament. That's how good I think he is. And if he does, that makes India even harder to beat. If he doesn't, then they're as vulnerable as anybody else. So that's how important I think he is to this World Cup for India." said Ricky Ponting