Head coach of the Delhi Capitals (DC) Ricky Ponting said that the team needs to better itself in all departments of the game after their 16-run defeat to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Saturday, April 16. This was its third defeat in five games in the ongoing IPL 2022.
With this loss, DC is now just above Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings on the points table at no. 8. RCB batted first after losing the toss and put on 189/5 in 20 overs. DC couldn’t get a partnership going and despite 66 from David Warner, managed only 173/7 in 20 overs.
"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 the middle order. So we need to fix some things and what we intended to do throughout the tournament," Ponting said 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,” he added.
Ponting said getting the team combination right will be key for DC in their upcoming matches. He also added that the top-order batters to stand up and take more responsibility.
"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. 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," said the batting legend.
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He said: "Prithvi (Shaw) has been playing exceptionally well but if one of the top-4 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 reserved praise for left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and said that he is thriving in the IPL 2022.
"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 IPL and was playing for his country, so all the skill and talent was there we just needed build some fences around and make him feel at home and give him confidence and back his skills," he said.
DC next play Punjab Kings in Pune on 20 April.
(PTI inputs)
