Delhi Capitals (DC) director of cricket Sourav Ganguly is set to replace Ricky Ponting as the head coach of the franchise after the team’s poor performance in the IPL 2023, where the team finished 9th on the points table with 5 wins from 14 matches.
DC had to appoint David Warner as their captain for the IPL 2023, as Rishabh Pant was ruled out of the tournament due to his recovery from injuries he sustained in a car accident in December of 2022.
On the other hand, Ricky Ponting was under pressure to guide the team into playoffs as their first and only appearance in the final came in IPL 2020 under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer.
Ponting, who won the IPL title as head coach of the Mumbai Indians in 2015, has been with the Delhi Capitals since IPL 2018, and under his guidance, the Delhi Capitals reached the IPL final for the first time in 2020. DC finished first in the points table in 2021 but lost both qualifications. However, Delhi has failed to make the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. They came in fifth in the IPL 2022 and ninth this year.
Ponting, who featured for Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors India as a player during the initial seasons of the IPL, was the Director of Cricket for DC in the 2019 season, well before he joined the BCCI as President.
Sourav Ganguly To Take Over As Head Coach Of Delhi Capitals -Reports
Under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy that season, Delhi performed admirably and advanced to the playoffs. Ganguly had to quit his post as BCCI president after taking over, but he remained on good terms with DC owners and players, which is why, after being dismissed from the role of BCCI president last year, he re-joined the side ahead of the cash-rich tournament this year.
But with DC finishing 9th this season, Ricky Ponting is more or less set to lose his job as head coach.
According to a report published in Bengali media outlet Sangbad Pratidin, Ganguly is all set to replace Ponting for the men’s team head coach’s position. He will also be addressing his role as Director of Cricket at the franchise.
But, unlike the first inning, he didn’t have the same success this year, and if appointed to head coach, which will be his first job in that position, Ganguly will be anxious to end DC’s wait for an IPL victory.