Rishabh Pant, after leading the Delhi Capitals to a seven-wicket win over the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday, said Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been his “go to man” and that he has “learned a lot from him”. Pant, who was appointed skipper of the Delhi outfit after regular skipper Shreyas Iyer was ruled out for the season with a shoulder injury, made his captaincy debut in the competiton today.

Delhi openers Prithvi Shaw (72) and Shikhar Dhawan (85) showcased a batting masterclass, scoring 138 runs for the first wicket as last year’s beaten finalists cruised to victory over a hapless CSK.  

Also Read | ‘Guru vs Chela’: Ravi Shastri hypes up MS Dhoni vs Rishabh Pant showdown

The 23-year-old heaped praise on his CSK counterpart, saying it was “very special walking out for the toss” with Dhoni. 

“It was very special walking out for the toss with MS. He has been my go to man. I have learnt a lot from him,” Pant said in his post-match interview.  

He also downlayed the absence of South African pace duo Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada, praising Avesh Khan and Tom Curran for their execution.

“We were thinking as to what we will do without Nortje and Rabada and I thought we had to do with the options we have.”

Also Read | IPL 2021: MS Dhoni gets castled by Avesh Khan, records fourth IPL duck

“It always feels good when you get the win in the end. In the middle phase, I was under some pressure. But Avesh and Tom (Curran) did well in the middle to restrict them to 188,” Pant said.

Pant also said they weren’t thinking about the net run rate when looking to close out the win early.

“No, there was no effort for the NRR as it is still early stages in the tournament. Prithvi and Shikhar did well for us in the powerplay. They kept it simple and played some good cricketing shots,” he said.