Delhi Capitals parted ways with head coach Ricky Ponting after failing to make it to the playoffs in IPL 2024. He was appointed in 2018 and since then, the franchise qualified for the final once in 2020, in which they lost to Mumbai Indians. Former Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly will now be the head coach for the IPL franchise.
Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal indicated changes after the last IPL and this might just be the start, keeping the mega auction in mind. The contract of Ponting has expired, and although it may get renewed, the Australian legend will not be acting as the head coach, since Ganguly himself confirmed replacing the position.
“I have to plan for next year’s IPL. I want to win the IPL for Delhi Capitals once. The mega auction is next year, and hence I have started planning from now on. Let me break a news, head (coach) Ricky Ponting will not be the coach of Delhi Capitals. Geoffrey Boycott was right, as Ponting has not been able to take the franchise forward in the past 7 years. I have to speak with the franchise and ask them to look at Indian coaches. I will be the head coach. Let’s see how I perform,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by a Bengali daily newspaper, Aajkal.
The former Aussie cricketer was given the entire power in IPL 2024, but failed to bring results, which may also prompt the franchise to not prolong his stay with the franchise. However, things remain uncertain for the time being.
After IPL 2023, the franchise took the bold decision of sacking Ajit Agarkar and Shane Watson as assistant coaches after rumours of the management were divided into two parts – one side backed Ponting while the other backed Ganguly. To remove confusion, Agarkar and Watson were removed, as they were backed by Ganguly and Ponting, respectively.