Ricky Ponting Names Three Possible Young 'Standouts' For India In Test Cricket

Former Australia skipper and Indian Premier League (IPL) side Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting was all praise for Yashasvi Jaiswal after the youngster slammed a century on debut to guide India to victory in the first Test against West Indies. Ponting said that Jaiswal's talent was apparent from his IPL performance and he expects the youngster to achieve bigger things with the national side in the future. Ponting added that Ruturaj Gaikwad is another cricketer who was almost equally talented as Jaiswal and backed the right-hander to become a major asset for the Indian cricket team.

"I mean (Yashasvi) Jaiswal's IPL was something special. He almost just flicked a switch and turned into a superstar overnight. Everyone knew that he was a talented youngster, but what I saw in this year's IPL, he's got all sorts of talent," Ponting told ICC.

"There's a lot of those young Indian guys that I can't wait to see play Test cricket and yet you look at their domestic records as well and you can't help but be impressed. I'm on record saying that I think (Ruturaj) Gaikwad's the same (as Jaiswal). I think he could be a very serious Test match player or all-format player really in the next couple of years," Ponting added.

Ponting also added the name of DC star Sarfaraz Khan in the list of talented cricketers and said that he has the talent necessary to become a regular for India in Test cricket.

"So, yeah, I probably do think those two guys would be the standouts. I think just off the top of my head, batting-wise, they'd be the two. And as I said, well Sarfaraz is the other one that's got all sorts of talent that we might not see for a little while just yet," said the former Australia captain.