Delhi Capitals will aim to play its “best game” in the decider according to head coach Ricky Ponting. Having lost all three meetings against the Mumbai Indians this season, the Delhi Capitals go into the final showdown as the losers, but Ponting believes his team has the ability to finish the tournament on top.
Speaking before the final, Ponting said: “I had high expectations coming here (UAE). I knew we had built a very good squad of players. We got off to a great start, but things got a little shaky towards the end, but the guys have managed to play two really good games out of their last three, and I hope we can play our best game in the final. ”
“Looking back, yes, it has been a good season, but we have not won anything yet, and that is why we are here, we are here to win the IPL and we will do our best,” he added. .
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Reflecting on the season in which his team went through several ups and downs but still managed to finish second in the league table, Ponting added: “Yes, it was a bit frustrating because up to that point (four losses in a row), we had played something Very good cricket and arguably the best team in the tournament. But I think some of the guys got a little complacent and it was at that stage of the tournament that things started to get a little difficult for everyone, but you have to admit they found a way to counter and played really well in a must-play game against RCB, and yesterday (against SRH) was also one of our best performances, especially with the bat. I think our best cricket is yet to come. ”
Ponting sent compatriot Aussie Marcus Stoinis to the front against SRH in Qualifier 2, a move that worked for his team, and the veteran Aussie believes that Stoinis gave his team a “presence in powerplay overs”. He said: “The way our team balanced in the early part of the tournament with Prithvi and Jinks present, made it difficult for Stoinis to move up the order. But every time he (Stoinis) has been given a chance in the tournament, especially if he came in with 10 or 12 overs to go, he played really well. It opens at BigBash, and I’ve seen some amazing entries from it in Australia at the top of the order. I think he’s improved tremendously in the last 12 months and we’re all starting to see how good he can be with the bat and the bowl and even on the field. ”
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“With him in command, he was a much needed presence in the powerplay overs, and that helped us too. SRH bowlers knew that if they missed, he (Stoinis) would not pass up the chance to score. And Shikhi (Dhawan) has probably had his best season in the IPL this time around, and these are good signs for us. And we still haven’t gotten the best of Rishabh in this tournament, so if he shoots in the final, I think we will be able to make a great score, ”added the 45-year-old.
When asked what he will tell the team before the final, Ponting said he would like them to enjoy the moment and accept the pressure. “Just enjoying it for what it is. It’s not easy to get to the IPL final, that’s what I told the guys last night. There are people who have played a lot of cricket but never made it to an IPL final, but luckily I have coached one before and was part of a team that won. So I know what it’s like to be there, but the most important thing in these great games is not to try to hide and say that it is just another game, when in reality it is not, it has more than that. In fact, you better enjoy it and try to take advantage of the extra value that comes with a final, ”said Ponting.
Adding that his team will relax before the big game, Ponting said: “We deserve to be in the final, and all we have done is give ourselves the right to play the final, and now we have to go out and earn the right to win the final. So things will be more or less the same: we will do our meetings the same way and we will be nice, relaxed and calm tomorrow, and when we get to the ground, we will put our game faces on and hopefully continue. play good.”
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Ponting’s Delhi Capitals hope to be lucky for the fourth time against Mumbai this season, and the Australian legend believes his team has the firepower to do it. “We have enough firepower (to beat Mumbai). If you sit down and think if there is a team that you would not like to play for, it will be us. But it’s about us, it’s about how we present ourselves, how we play, as simple as that. We’ve been a far cry from the best in the games we’ve played against Mumbai thus far, and once we sit down today and try to address some of the areas we haven’t played well against them in: our power play hitting, Death Bowling: If we rectify those things and play somewhere close to our best, I have no doubt that we will win, ”he said.
“The other thing about Mumbai is that they have played quite fearless cricket, high stakes cricket certainly in the way they have batted. We know they trust Trent Boult with the new bowl to get them through the wickets, so if we can get that part right, and if they just have a few things going against them, and we execute them and push them, then I’m sure the result may change ”, he added.
Also commenting on what he will tell a young captain like Shreyas Iyer, who will lead the team in one of the most important games of his career, Ponting said: “My job as a coach is to make his job as easy as possible. So we will go through our meetings tonight and do all the planning and preparations. We will try to make everything as simple as possible. The thing about him is that he’s someone who doesn’t like information overload either; it’s best if you keep giving it a little drip and giving it a few little tips along the way. So we’ll give you the information tonight and ask you not to even think about tonight’s game until you have to do it tomorrow. ”
“So far what he has done on the field has been outstanding, and when I see how young he is as a captain and the results that he has been able to achieve for this franchise in the last two years, it has been outstanding. We will try to keep things simple for him and keep our fingers crossed and hope that things will fit in tomorrow, “concluded Ponting.
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