Head coach of Delhi Capitals Ricky Ponting expressed his excitement of coming back to New Delhi. Ponting revealed that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is one such tournament he looks forwards throughout the year. Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals previously known as the Delhi Daredevils has been the perennial underachievers of the tournament. They are the only team from the initial lot to have never qualified for the final of the tournament even once.
However, they have a new co-owner this time around in the form of JSW and GMR groups and the name of the franchise has also been changed to Delhi Capitals. They have also made some changes in their squad and the management. Ricky Ponting is optimistic of the fact that his team Delhi Capitals has the potential to win their maiden IPL trophy.
Delhi started off their campaign with a sensational victory by 37 runs against the Mumbai Indians. The victory was largely built around a special knock from the blade of Rishabh Pant. The southpaw didn’t spare even Jasprit Bumrah and ended up scoring a scintillating 78 of a mere 27 deliveries which were studded with 7 fours and 7 sixes each.
A target of 215 was always going to be difficult for Mumbai Indians. They fought hard but the target was way too much in the end. The top scorer for Mumbai Indians was veteran batsman Yuvraj Singh who was dismissed after making 53 of 35 deliveries which included 5 fours and 3 sixes.
Meanwhile coming back to Ricky Ponting, he revealed that he is here to win the title for Delhi Capitals. He is eagerly looking forward to the tournament and will look to help Delhi achieve their maiden title triumph in IPL.
“It always feels really exciting to come back to New Delhi. I love the country and being a part of the Indian Premier League is something that I always look forward to throughout the year. With our franchise, the Delhi Capitals, it has been a bit of a changing of the guard – we have new co-owners in the JSW and GMR Groups, a new name for the team; it is a total rebrand.
We do also have quite a few changes in the management and the squad. But I feel it’s a really exciting time for our team and it is all going to add up into a really good, successful campaign for the Capitals.
Ricky Ponting is of the opinion that they have a very strong side who has the capability to win the tournament. However, he conceded the fact that more than talent one needs to perform on match days and handle pressure in the right way. If DC can handle the pressure in crucial junctures of the game it might well be a dream season for them.
Ricky Ponting feels DC have a strong unit this year
“We have put together a really fantastic group of players that looks very strong on paper. But like I said to the boys even at the start of last season, it isn’t about how it looks on the paper, but about how well you can perform under pressure that really matters.
It is definitely up to me and the other coaches to make sure that the players are well-drilled, with their skills and tactics being up to scratch going into the first game against a strong Mumbai Indians team, which shall prove to be a great challenge for all of us.
Delhi lost their 2nd match against the Chennai Super Kings as they failed to take advantage of a good start after batting first. Shikhar Dhawan top scored with a half-century to propel Delhi Capitals to a competitive score of 147 runs. The DC bowlers took the game to the last over. Eventually, it was Dwayne Bravo who hit the winning runs to hand CSK their 2nd victory of the tournament.