Rishabh Pant needed someone to help Delhi Daredevils get over the line: Billings

Ahead of their second match of the Indian Premier League against Rising Pune Supergiant, wicket-keeper batsman Sam Billings lauded Rishabh Pant for his valiant half-century against Royal Challengers Bangalore, stating that had there been even a single batsman who could assist the youngster, they would have started the campaign on a winning note.

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“If you’re batting in the top four like myself, I got 25. Actually, I did all the hard work and then got out. So I think it gets more disappointing for guys who get in and don’t quite see it through like me and Tare, who got off to a great start as well,” Billings said at a media interaction.

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“You look at the power towards the end of our batting… I mean, Rishabh Pant played as good an innings as you’ll see. So, yeah, it was just a case of someone to stay with him. So, it’s a batting line-up with full of potential. We should have won that game, but as far as we learn from our mistakes, it’s all good.”

Rishabh Pant had scored a terrific knock under pressure to keep Delhi in the hunt till the very end with a 36-ball 57, but failed to steer his side past the finishing line on Saturday. Apart from Pant, Billings (25) was the only other batsman to cross the 20-run mark as Delhi fell 16 runs short of the target.

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He also credited his side’s bowling line-up who did a terrific job to restrict Bangalore to just 157 in their first game. Chris Morris was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets while veteran Zaheer Khan had two scalps to his name. Against a strong batting line-up like that of Pune, Billings pinned his bowlers to come out on top once again.

“Jayant Yadav has done phenomenally well in the Test series against England. Amit Mishra is probably the second highest wicket-taker in the IPL. Nadeem bowled brilliantly and was probably the pick of our bowlers in Bangalore actually,” he said.

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“We’ve really got a good pace attack in the form of Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris, Pat Cummins and Zaheer, the experienced… I think our bowling unit showed (their credentials) in Bangalore that night.”

Although the Delhi franchise is yet to win against Steve Smith’s men, Billings isn’t a worried man.

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“There’s no weak side. Every line-up has power-hitters. At the end of the day we can prepare for certain people in their side,” he said. “If we know turn up and play as well as we can, there’s no team that can beat us. We’re looking forward to the challenge, but away from home, it’s going to be tough. There’s no doubt about it.”