Australian batter and World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting will no longer be the head coach of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals (DC). Ponting’s seven-year association with the team has concluded ahead of the mega auction for the 2025 edition of the cash-rich league.
As per ESPNCricinfo, the franchise did not achieve the desired results under Ponting’s guidance, leading the owners to decide to part ways with the cricketing legend.
The official X handle of the franchise confirmed the development on Saturday, tweeting,
“After 7 seasons, Delhi Capitals has decided to part ways with Ricky Ponting. It’s been a great journey, Coach! Thank you for everything.”
Ponting’s tenure as coach began in 2018 when the franchise was still called Delhi Daredevils. During his leadership, Delhi Capitals qualified for the playoffs three times, in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Notably, in the 2020 season, DC reached the finals for the first time in its history, ultimately losing to the Mumbai Indians (MI).
However, over the past three years, DC failed to progress to the final four stages. This year, the franchise finished in sixth place, narrowly missing out on the playoffs based on net-run-rate, with a record of seven wins and seven losses.
Despite the setbacks, the season had its positives. Skipper Rishabh Pant returned to competitive cricket following a life-threatening accident, and several young players like Jake Fraser McGurk, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel, and Rasikh Salam Dar showcased their potential, setting a promising foundation for DC’s future.
In a heartfelt post on social media, DC expressed their gratitude and emotions, saying,
“As you move on as our head coach, we are finding it incredibly hard to put this down in words. The four things you told us about in every huddle–care, commitment, attitude, and effort – sum up our seven summers together. Seven summers of you being hands-on, but also hands-off, so that we could become better. As athletes, yes, but more importantly, as human beings.”
“Seven summers of you reaching every training session first, and leaving last. Seven summers of you sprinting out of the dugout during strategic timeouts, and biting your nails off until there were none left.”
The post continued, “Seven summers of your dressing room speeches – the speeches, Oh! (Separate post for that loading) Seven summers of your hugs, shoulder pats and fist pumps for us all–newcomer, superstar… and everyone in between.”
“Thank you for everything, Coach! Like you often close out, ‘Let’s leave this here, mate, grab a beer, get back to work tomorrow, yeah?'”
As Ponting departs, the remaining DC coaching staff includes director of cricket Sourav Ganguly, assistant coach Pravin Amre, bowling coach James Hopes, and fielding coach Biju George. The team will now look ahead to the upcoming mega auction and the new season, hoping to build on the foundations laid during Ponting’s tenure.
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