Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

IPL: What Delhi must do after 'being blown out of the park'

April 17, 2022 12:44 IST

'We need to look at all aspects of our game, pick the right team, and those 11 players we pick need to stand up and get the job done.'

Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant bats during the IPL match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai on Saturday

IMAGE: Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant bats during the IPL match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai on Saturday. Photograph: BCCI

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting feels his team needs to improve in all aspects of the game after its third defeat in five games in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Delhi Capitals lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 16 runs at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai, on Saturday and are placed in the bottom half of the table with just four points.

 

The former Australia batting ace said it's time Delhi Capitals start clicking as a unit in all aspects of the game.

"We haven't had our full-strength batting. Mitchell Marsh played his first game and probably didn't quite fit the tempo of the game that we needed. Rovman Powell hasn't fired so far in middle order. So we need to fix some things and what we intended to do throughout the tournament," said Ponting at the post-match press conference.

"There is definitely some areas for improvement with the bat and ball. In a couple of overs we absolutely have been blown out of the park. We need to get better in all aspects of the game."

Ponting said getting the team combination right will be key for DC in their upcoming matches.

"The next two games are pretty important for us and we need to look at all aspects of our game, pick the right team, and those 11 players we pick need to stand up and get the job done."

The former Australia captain called upon his top-order batters to stand up and take more responsibility.

"We want the guys to have the best opportunities to make big scores and obviously if you are batting in the top 4 in T20, you have got the best opportunity to make big scores.

"Prithvi (Shaw) has been playing exceptionally well but if one of the top-four go onto to make a big score of 80-plus we know what will happen but that hasn't happened for us so far."

Ponting, though, was pretty impressed with Kuldeep Yadav's performance so far in the tournament, saying the left-arm spinner is thriving in the Delhi Capitals environment.

"Kuldeep seems to be thriving in the environment that we are creating around him. I was very keen going into the auction to bring Kuldeep to Delhi Capitals. He wasn't able to get the opportunities with KKR last season that he probably felt he should have got.

"Only 3-4 years ago, he was one of the leading spinners in the IPL and was playing for his country. So all the skill and talent was there; we just needed to build some fences around and make him feel at home and give him confidence and back his skills."

Delhi Capitals next plays Punjab Kings in Pune on April 20.

© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.