IPL 2020 Final | Shreyas Iyer is a brilliant player, captain and person, states Ricky Ponting

In his third season with the Delhi Capitals, Ricky Ponting managed to land the sucker punch once again, this time, by doing one better than the last. The Capitals reached the final for the first-time, the only original franchise to have never been there, but lost out to the defending champions who secured their fifth IPL title. Ricky Ponting, post match, hailed the winners for their campaign but singled out his skipper for showing courage and fortitude after an initial collapse.

“MI have been the best team, they've beaten us 4 times. Being a coach it's a little frustrating in the dugout but at the end of the day I'm really proud of the job the boys have done. Iyer is a brilliant player, captain and person. He's definitely grown in stature in the last 12 months. Hopefully we can work together a bit more in the future,” Ponting said in the post-match interview.

The Aussie joined the side almost four weeks ahead of the tournament began on September 19 and the life in the bubble had presented its own set of challenges. Ponting was elated that the BCCI actually managed to put together a show despite extreme challenges.

“We probably had 3.5 weeks of prep before the tournament, so we had a little too much preparation. We had a really challenging tour, I was sceptical about leaving Australia but the organizers have done a terrific job. I think we have the youngest squad in the tournament and I'm extremely proud of them.”