Last Updated on 2 months ago by Charbel Coorey

Ricky Ponting has revealed that he pleaded with Delhi Capitals (DC) to keep Abhishek Sharma in 2018. Ponting, coach of DC from 2018 to 2024, said he saw something “extra special” in the then 17-year-old.

“I was his first IPL coach,” Ponting said on the ICC review. “He debuted with me, I think as a 17-year-old at Delhi and made an immediate impact. I think he hit his first ball for four or six straight back over the bowler’s head with that classical sort of straight bat and held the pose.

“And you could just see then as a 17-year-old that there was something extra special.”

Ricky Ponting tried convincing Delhi Capitals not to trade Abhishek Sharma

DC traded Abhishek Sharma to Sunrisers Hyderabad. The youngster played a terrific knock of 46* off 19 balls on IPL debut, which caught attention.

“We ended up trading him away from Delhi, but I pleaded and pleaded and pleaded and said, please don’t do this,” Ponting said.

“We’ve got to [keep him], there’s an absolute superstar in the making here. And that’s what it’s turned out to be. I’ve got really high hopes for him this time.”

Ponting predicts Abhishek will have a huge 2026 T20 World Cup campaign. The opener is unarguably the premier T20 batsman in the world, and if he continues his magnificent run of form, India will be even harder to beat.

“[It’s] a real positive to be honest. He can be the leading run-scorer and potentially the Player of the Tournament. That’s how good I think he is,” Ponting said.

“And if he does, that makes India even harder to beat. If he doesn’t, then they’re as vulnerable as anybody else. So that’s how important I think he is to this World Cup for India.”

As of February 4 2026, Abhishek’s 1,297 T20I runs come at an eyewatering strike rate of 194.74.