Ricky Ponting’s presence at Delhi Capitals (DC) has worked wonders for the team. DC finished third in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 under Ponting tutelage and the former Australian captain has been busy with the players, readying them for the competition that begins on September 19. Pointing out that the competition for spots in the XI is “getting hot”, Ponting posted snaps from one of the DC practice sessions and captioned the post as “Counting down the days until we start our season on Sunday. The boys have been outstanding with their training and preparation and competition for spots in the starting eleven is certainly hot. Exactly what you want as a coach.”

Kevin Pietersen, who has had many an encounter with Ponting during The Ashes over the years, found the funny side to it. “Never thought you’d be a coach with a notepad!” Pietersen commented jokingly. 

DC will be led by Shreyas Iyer and have the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Shimron Hetmyer, R Ashwin and Kagiso Rabada in their midst. 

They will rely heavily on the returns of Shaw and Pant, youngsters who have found their mojo more often than not with Delhi. 

Pant has scored over 1000 runs for DC over the past two seasons and has an IPL strike rate of 162.69. He averaged 52.61 and struck the ball at 173.60 in 2018. 

Promoted

Shaw, the 2018 U-19 World Cup winning captain of India, averaged 27.22 with a strike rate of 153.12 in IPL 2018, scoring 245 runs from just nine games. 

Delhi play their first match against Kings XI Punjab on September 20.