Parth Jindal and Ricky Ponting. (Source – Twitter/X)
After failing to qualify for the playoffs of IPL 2024, Delhi Capitals parted ways with head coach Ricky Ponting, who has been in charge of the team since 2018. Under his guidance, the franchise qualified for the finals in IPL 2020 but lost to Mumbai Indians and ever since they have seen more dark days than good.
In the 2021 edition, they topped the points table but lost to Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1 and then to Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator. Since the mega auction in 2022, they failed to get into the top four, which forced DC to take the hard call of removing Ponting. Meanwhile, co-owner Parth Jindal was delighted with the quality they have got in the form of Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Jake Fraser-McGurk and others but when it comes to coaching, he wants someone to be available all the time.
Jindal noted that they are looking for someone for a full-time job, unlike Ponting, who used to be available for the auction and for a little over two months during IPL.
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“There is going to be a meet where we actually give our views to the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) on the retention and release rules for the mega-auction. We have a great core of players at the Delhi Capitals. If you look at the likes of Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Tristan Stubbs, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, there is a very good core that we have,” Jindal said in an exclusive chat with CNBC-TV18.
“The coaching set-up that one needs to have, has to be full-time. They have to be available in the country, in the city at any given point in time. That is the sole reason why we have made this change,” he added.
This also indicates DC’s plan to hire an Indian coach, who will be available all the time. Sourav Ganguly, the Director of Cricket of Delhi has already expressed his desire to take up the role of a head coach but the franchise is yet to make any decision.