Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has all praises for the young Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, to an extent that he called him “another” Adam Gilchrist after the 21-year-old’s blistering knock of 159 in the fourth Test. 

Ponting has already worked with Pant during his stint with Delhi Daredevils (DD) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), as quoted in cricket.com.au., he said, “He is a real talent and an incredibly good ball-striker. He has got a really good game sense as well. I have been lucky enough to coach him at Delhi (Capitals). He has got to do a bit of work on his keeping and he will also become a better batsman. We talk about him in the commentary box and he is sort of like another Adam Gilchrist.”

Gilchrist played 96 Tests for Australia and amassed 5570 runs at an average of 47.6. He also represented his country in 287 ODIs, amassing 9619 runs at 35.89. On Friday, Pant became the only Indian wicketkeeper to score a century on Australia soil en route to his second Test century and shared a 204-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja, as the visitors declared at 622 runs for seven.

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Pant also surpassed MS Dhoni’s 13-year-old record of highest individual Test score by an Indian wicketkeeper. Dhoni had scored 148 runs against Pakistan in 2006 and Ponting believes Pant will score more Test centuries than the former India skipper.

Describing the same, Ponting said, “We talk about MS Dhoni all the time and his impact on Indian cricket. He played a lot of Tests for India but made only six Test hundreds. This kid (Rishabh Pant) will make a lot more Test hundreds than that. He has already scored his second Test ton and a couple of the 90s to go with it. Look he is someone who could play a lot of Test cricket for India across formats. Pant is only 21 and is already into his ninth Test.”

Gilchrist also praised Pant for pacing his innings well. He said that the southpaw did well with the bat, Pant’s keeping wasn’t always up to the mark as he dropped Usman Khawaja off Mohammed Shami late on the second day. However, Gilchrist feels Pant will become a reliable keeper as he learns from his mistakes.

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Former Australian gloveman said, “Although he’s missed a few opportunities with the gloves, he’s certainly held onto more than he’s spilled. If he’s prepared to work on his game, I’m sure he’ll develop and become a really reliable keeper.”