Rishabh Pant led his team Delhi Capitals to a resounding seven-wicket win over his role model MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings but the youngster paid tribute to the former India captain.
"It was very special walking out for the toss with MS [Dhoni]. He has been my go-to man. I have learnt a lot from him," said Pant during the presentation ceremony after the match.
Pant, who replaced the injured Shreyas Iyer as captain ahead of this season, said that he was under pressure at one point in time.
"In the middle phase, I was under some pressure. But Avesh and Tom [Curran] did well in the middle to restrict them to 188. It always feels good when you get the win in the end. We were thinking as to what we will do without [Anrich] Nortje and [Kagiso] Rabada and I thought we had to do with the options we have," added Pant after the match.
The 23-year-old Delhi Ranji player praised openers Prithvi Shawn and Shikhar Dhwan for powering Delhi Capitals.
"Prithvi [Shaw] and Shikhar [Dhawan] did well for us in the powerplay. They kept it simple and played some good cricketing shots."
Both Shaw and Dhawan added 138 runs for the opening wicket in 13.3 overs.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)