Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting believes that senior batsman Ajinkya Rahane’s inclusion adds “more depth” to the side but there will be a healthy competition for middle-order slots during this IPL season. The Capitals, which finished third last year, will start their campaign against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday and both Ponting and skipper Shreyas Iyer agreed that R Ashwin and Rahane have been great additions to the young side with their experience they brought in.

While the coach didn’t give away much but there is a possibility that India’s Test vice-captain may have to wait for his chance in the playing XI considering the explosive top five (Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Shimron Hetmyer) that DC possesses. There is in-form Alex Carey also in the mix.

“We really have a balanced side. There is a lot of competition for middle-order slots. Rahane gives us more depth to our batting,” the Australian legend said on Saturday during his team’s pre-season virtual media conference sitting, alongside skipper Iyer.

“Shikhar had as good a last season as anybody. Prithvi has been training very well. Shreyas has had his best 12 months for the Indian team. We have Pant, Hetmyer and Alex Carey (both left-handers), which gives us a good mix of left-right combination. We have our bases covered,” Ponting said, giving a subtle hint about Rahane’s immediate future.

Iyer, on his part, said that Ashwin and Rahane have mixed well within the group and never gave a sense that they are senior players.

“They give that extra sense of confidence. You don’t feel that they are seniors and are willing to help every individual,” said Iyer, who believes that Ashwin will be beneficial for the team, given his idea of the KXIP core team (Chris Gayle, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal) and the slowish nature of the Dubai track.

Ponting also felt that wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant has been shaping up well since last week and he is expecting another good season from the burly southpaw.

“Pant, during the last week, has really turned the corner well and I would expect him to perform as well as he did last year.

“In DC, we as a coaching group don’t put added pressure on the players. We like to take as much as possible pressure off them. We never expect any such thing from them which they don’t expect from themselves,” the coach said. With Dubai hosting 24 games out of the 60, Ponting is sure that the tracks will get slower in the second half of the tournament and spin will become more important factor.

“Conditions might change through the tournament. They have four tracks in Dubai that will host 24 games. I saw a lot of green grass cover on the track and before the game, some of it will be off. I don’t see a lot of spin now but it might become a factor during later part of the tournament,” the three-time ODI World Cup winner said.

Considering the nature of the track, Ponting is confident that replacement left-arm seamer Daniel Sams can be very effective with his slower off-cutters and a pace of 135 to 140 kmph.

“I have watched Daniel Sams for the last three to four years. He has been one of the highest wicket-takers in BBL. He could be effective during the back end of the tournament when pitches will get slower. He has variations and bowls lot of off-cutters. He gives us left-arm option,” Ponting said.

About celebrations, Iyer said that the players are restricting it to “fist bumps”, something they had been doing during practice games.

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While concluding, Ponting said that the “ban on saliva” at least in white ball cricket and that too in T20 won’t be that big deal compared to red ball cricket.

“But it’s about habit. We need to be careful as if you do it multiple times, you can cop hefty fines,” he said.