IPL 2020, Brains behind curtains: Ricky Ponting and the Delhi Capitals

Back in January 2018, the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) brought Ricky Ponting on board as the franchise hoped to turn around its wretched run in the Indian Premier League. Since 2012, the Delhi-based outfit hadn’t managed a single play-off appearance, thereby casting them as the perennial wooden spoon contenders, a notion they dearly wanted to change.

And, even though they grabbed that unwanted accolade in Ponting’s first season at the helm, they’ve traversed a slightly different part since then, meaning that they came within a game of making their maiden IPL final in 2019.

While the common logic would lead one to conclude the coming of age of certain players, one can’t deny the impact the legendary Australian has had on the side.

Firstly, the former batsman has brought in a sense of decisiveness to the Delhi Capitals’ planning. For quite a while, the franchise was guilty of shuffling their pack too frequently. On countless occasions, they traded and released players, just for the sake of it whereas they weren’t too inspiring with their purchases at the auction as well.

Consequently, the side never settled enough to muster a decent tilt at the title, a fact emphasised by their lacklustre standings between 2013 and 2018. However, rather refreshingly, ahead of the 2019 auction, the Capitals forged an adequate plan wherein they chalked out the flaws they needed to iron out and the attributes they needed to strengthen even more.

In pursuance of the above, Ponting trusted his set of Indian batsmen and decided to put forth a batting line-up mainly comprising of local talent. In the process, that allowed the Capitals to fiddle with their bowling and all-rounder combination and enabled the foreign stars to get acclimatised with the league without nervously looking over their shoulder.

Kagiso Rabada, in particular, prospered under those circumstances with the outfit sometimes fielding the South African alongside Trent Boult, a prospect that wasn’t possible a season ago.

Most tellingly though, Ponting infused those in the squad with confidence and belief, a trait that had seemingly fallen by the wayside over the past few years.

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Rishabh Pant, a cricketer who has massively divided opinion recently, was accorded the requisite freedom to express himself without worrying about other ancillary aspects. And, when the left-hander popped up with a slightly irresponsible shot, Ponting, rather than providing him with a rap on the knuckles, backed him to the hilt, meaning that the wicket-keeper wasn’t caught in two minds while taking the field.

Pant has enjoyed his time under Ponting

Moreover, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer were entrusted with responsibility, something the pair enjoyed, meaning that they formed the back-bone of the batting line-up.

Additionally, the Australian coach’s propensity to play brave and courageous cricket enabled Delhi to impose themselves on matches a lot more, without retreating into their shell. The above inevitably meant that other teams were circumspect of what the Capitals might pull out of their bag, especially with the wealth of talent at their disposal.

Over the past few seasons, the Delhi-based outfit has always boasted match-winners and players capable of turning an encounter in a trice. Yet, they haven’t been able to blend it properly, thereby being culpable of committing hara-kiri at times.

However, with a seasoned campaigner of the ilk of Ponting overseeing affairs, the franchise seems to have the wind in its sails and looks primed to go a step further than 2019.

And, while it might be too early to immerse oneself in predictions, the Australian has certainly ingrained an identity in a side that had been fervently searching for it, ever since the 5th edition of the IPL.