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head coach Ricky Ponting has backed Rishabh Pant to be part of India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad. Ponting believes his franchise captain is a must in the India squad despite acknowlediging the depth in India's cricket talent, particularly in the wicketkeeping-batsman role.

There are many contenders for the keeper-batter slot for the T20 WC, such as KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Jitesh Sharma whereas veteran Dinesh Karthik also has an outside chance given his splendid start in the ongoing IPL season. However, the former Australian captain has backed Pant, who already has 194 runs in 123 balls faced in IPL 2024 (striking at 157.72)

an interview with PTI, Ponting said, "Do I believe whether Rishabh should be there in the World Cup squad? Absolutely I do. He deserves to be in that WT20 squad by the end of the IPL, I think we have seen Rishabh play the way we have seen him play in the last six seasons of IPL and now back playing for India. One thing we certainly know that there is a lot of depth around Indian cricket, with keeper batters and I feel some guys are in really good form at the moment. Kishan is playing well, Samson is playing well and KL Rahul is playing well, there's a lot of options there but if I was picking a team, I would have Rishabh Pant in it every day of the week.

Pant returned to competitive cricket, after 14 months, during this year's IPL following a horrific car crash in late 2022. Since his return, all eyes are on his fitness and form. While the swashbuckling left-hander started off slowly, he has gained momentum with each passing day and striking the ball really well. Thus, he has a strong chance to make a national comeback in the T20 WC, which commences early June.

Rohit Sharma-led India's provisional squad for the T20 WC is likely to be announced early next month. Meanwhile, Pant is now focused on taking DC to the top-four in the IPL 2024 points table as the one-time finalists are struggling at the moment. They are at the ninth spot and will now host SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Saturday (April 20), at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi