Ponting on Porel: I knew he was a very special talent the moment I saw him

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting has heaped praise on Abishek Porel, the left-handed batsman who has excelled in a variety of roles in the 2024 IPL, and hinted that he will don the gloves against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Sunday in the absence of the suspended Rishabh Pant. Capitals signed Porel in 2023 as a replacement for Pant, who missed the entire season after suffering multiple injuries in a car accident, and Ponting has predicted that the Bengal keeper-batsman has "a really bright future".

Porel has scored 267 runs in ten innings this season at a strike rate of 157.98. He began the campaign batting at number 9 against Punjab Kings, coming in as an impact player and hitting an unbeaten 32 off just ten balls. He has since been promoted to the top four and opened the batting in DC's final game against Rajasthan Royals, putting on 60 in just 4.2 overs with Jake Fraser-McGurk. Porel then scored 65 off 36, his first IPL half-century, studded with seven fours and three sixes.

Ahead of the match against RCB, Ponting said in Bengaluru:

"I've seen extreme growth in Abishek Porel in this IPL. In fact, looking back to the start of last season, obviously [with] Rishabh's accident, we needed to bring in some wicketkeepers into our squad after the auction. We tried a lot of guys, a lot of guys that played, more senior guys than Porel, but the moment that I laid eyes on him, I knew that he was a very special talent.”

Porel has hit 31 fours this season, tied with Pant for the most for DC, although he has only scored 267 runs to Pant's 413. Prior to this IPL season, he had played just four games in the tournament - all in 2023 - scoring 33 runs at a strike rate of 106.45. He was one of DC's retained players for this IPL.