Former Indian cricketer Mohammed Kaif has said that Ricky Ponting would admit that he could have done a better job with the Delhi Capitals, especially with the squad that Kaif and Sourav Ganguly had built. He added that Ponting's biggest regret in his seven years of coaching the franchise will be the failure to win a trophy, even after reaching the finals in IPL 2020.
Ponting had joined Delhi in 2018. In his seven seasons of coaching the franchise, they had three creditable finishes but on most occasions, the team fell short of the promise they showed.
Speaking in a video posted on his social media handle, Kaif lauded Ganguly for showing the need for an Indian core in an IPL team to win the trophy as he revealed how Ganguly and Ponting had different opinions over getting Shikhar Dhawan from the Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of IPL 2019.
The Delhi Capital's Ponting era: Wasn't in favour of signing Shikhar, had a great team but couldn't deliver title. A lot more about IPL’s underachieving team as Ponting moves to Punjab.#CricketWithKaif#IPLpic.twitter.com/iIMXKJBOlX
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) November 18, 2024
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“I think Ponting would himself admit he could have done better because the team we made, me, Ganguly, you won't believe there were times we could think whom should we drop. There was no place for Ajinkya Rahane, Ashwin, Ishant Sharma and even Hetmyer. Then when we went to the auction, this was Ganguly who decided and I must praise him for that," Kaif said.
"Now we were stuck still thinking if we should make the trade (Dhawan from SRH to DC) and it was Ganguly who convinced us that we needed him. Ponting did not agree. He felt his career was over because it was right when he was dropped from the Test team. This thing was highlighted in the meeting that Dhawan is a trusted player who can score 500 runs in a season," Kaif added.
Dhawan, who returned to Delhi ahead of IPL 2019, having played for the franchise in the inaugural season, had a brilliant run. He scored 521 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of 135.67.