To bring back everyone together will certainly be a big goal of mine, says Ricky Ponting after DC exit IPL 2021
Ricky Ponting has stated that it will be certainly a big goal for him to bring back everyone together to Delhi Capitals for the next season. He further stated that the whole team have done an amazing job for the last couple of seasons, and the franchise's performances speak for themselves.
The Delhi Capitals were knocked out of the tournament after a three-wicket defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders in Qualifier 2. The Delhi-based franchise had an incredible journey in their last two IPL seasons as they qualified for the playoffs in both of them. Before the 15th edition of IPL, there will be a mega auction in 2022. Rules for the auction are not clear yet but usually, a franchise will be allowed to retain three players ahead of the upcoming season.
Speaking on the mega auction and his choices to retain, Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting quipped that he would like to keep everyone if possible for the 15th edition of IPL. He further stated the players and support staff have done an amazing job for the franchise in the past two years.
âI would like to keep everyone, to be honest. We have got this terrific group of people at the Delhi Capitals. The playing staff and the coaches have done an amazing job for the last couple of seasons and I think our performances so to speak for themselves,â Ponting stated in the post-match press conference.
While explaining his strategy and plans ahead of the auction, Ponting said that he will do everything he can to bring back the players to the Delhi Capitals family.
âDisappointed that this season has finished the way that it has, but yeah obviously we know that we will probably only be able to retain maybe three or four players.So, a lot of players will go back into the auction and then Iâll be doing everything I can certainly to bring as many people back into the Delhi Capitals family as possible. Because, as I said, it's been an incredibly enjoyable last three seasons really for me and this playing group, and to bring everyone or most of the guys back together again will certainly be a big goal of mine,â he further added.
Delhi Capitals suffered a defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders by three wickets in Qualifier 2 and was knocked out of the competition. Batting first against Kolkata, Delhi scored a total of 135 runs. Shreyas Iyer played an unbeaten 30 off 27 balls to help his side to set a competitive total. Kolkata chased the target with the loss of seven wickets and won the game.
Reflecting on the defeat against the Eoin Morgan-led side, Ponting said that his team was brilliant throughout the season, but the team was unfortunate not to win the Qualifier 2 against the KKR on Wednesday.
âTo be totally honest, looking back at this whole season, I think today really is the only game that I feel that we've been outplayed in,â said Ponting. âWe didn't bat well enough today, we didn't get enough runs in the powerplay, we lost wickets too regularly through the middle of our batting innings. If it wasnât for Hetmyer and Shreyas at the end, we weren't looking anywhere near 130 odd, so we've been outplayed and we'll talk about that when we make it back into the rooms after. It's disappointing for us certainly to finish the way that we have,â he opined.Â