Kaif opened up on his association with Ponting at Delhi Capitals.
Ponting took over as the head coach of DC in IPL 2018. The Capitals reached the knockouts thrice in seven seasons under his guidance. They exited the playoffs in 2019 and 2021, and finished runners-up in 2020.
Kaif highlighted the role of Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly in DC’s run to the final in 2020, and claimed that Ponting's biggest regret in his seven-year tenure as head coach would be not winning the IPL trophy.
In a video shared on his social media handle, Kaif lauded Ganguly for formulating an Indian core in the IPL side as he explained how the former India skipper and Ponting were in disagreement over getting Shikhar Dhawan from Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of the 2019 season.
While Ponting, speculated to be under the influence of compatriot David Warner, who was then at SRH, felt Dhawan's career was over, Ganguly persuaded the franchise by pointing at his IPL career numbers as DC eventually traded the veteran India opener.
“I think Ponting would himself admit he could have done better because the team we made, me, Ganguly...you won't believe there were times we could think whom should we drop. There was no place for Ajinkya Rahane, Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, even Hetmyer. Then when we went to the auction...this was Ganguly who decided and I must praise him for that. He said we have to back the Indian players. He talked to Shikhar Dhawan, after which that trade had happened with Hyderabad,” Kaif said.
“Now we were stuck still thinking if we should make the trade, and it was Ganguly who convinced us that we needed him. Ponting did not agree. He felt his career was over, because it was right when he was dropped from the Test team. In fact, this thing was highlighted in the meeting that Dhawan is a trusted player who can score 500 runs in a season. David Warner was in Hyderabad, and I feel he must have influenced Ponting against going with Dhawan. I feel he must have told Ponting that he no longer remains a great player. But Ganguly and Parth Jindal backed Dhawan and traded him, and the India batter proved us right because we had reached the final that season where he scored a lot of runs. So I feel Ponting might have regretted that he would have done better because they did not win a trophy in those seven years. In fact, Ganguly should be credited for bringing Ashwin to the team as well,” he added.
Dhawan played some his best cricket in the IPL after returning to the Capitals. The left-hander amassed 521 runs in 2019, 618 runs in 2020, and 587 in 2021 before he joined Punjab Kings.
According to Kaif, DC decided to part ways with Ponting as they may have felt that the 49-year-old was no longer capable of coming up with title-winning gameplans.
“The franchise owner must have felt Ponting no longer had good game plans. Now, Ponting is a huge name. He is in that Sachin Tendulkar category. Now, if a franchise tells him 'thank you so much' and parts ways, that means they feel that he is looking flat with his game plans.”
Commenting on Ponting joining PBKS as the head coach, Kaif criticized the Aussie for not trusting match-winners and being focused on having a bigger purse at the mega auction.
“Now, he went to Punjab, and he followed the same tactic as the old coaches, retaining a few players and keeping a bigger purse. I felt they were wrong. Look at the Mumbai Indians. Despite finishing last, they retained their core players because they believed that they could still win a title. They backed the same players irrespective of their value. What Ponting did is the same as previous PBKS coaches and I'm not a fan of that. They could have retained Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada and Liam Livingstone. See, there is no guarantee that a franchise can retain the same player at an auction for a lesser price,” Kaif remarked.