Aussie legend’s seven-year tenure at IPL outfit comes to a close
Ricky Ponting and Delhi Capitals have gone their separate ways after several disappointing IPL campaigns in which they have failed to make the finals.
Ponting, revered worldwide for his cricketing intelligence and considered one of the sharpest minds in the game, was unable to take the Capitals to the IPL finals in the past three seasons, with the franchise finishing fifth (2022), ninth (2023) and sixth (2024) in the past three tournaments.
In an extended social media post from the official Delhi Capitals page, the club paid tribute to the 49-year-old, who was at the helm for seven seasons, with a first-placed regular season finish (before bowing out in the finals) in 2021 the best campaign.
“As you move on as our head coach, we’re finding it incredibly hard to put this down in words,” the post read.
“The four things you told us about in every huddle – care, commitment, attitude and effort – they sum up our seven summers together. Seven summers of you being hands-on, but also hands-off, so that we could become better. As athletes, yes, but more importantly, as human beings. Seven summers of you reaching every training session first, and leaving last. Seven summers of you sprinting out of the dugout during strategic timeouts, and biting your nails off until there were none left.
“Seven summers of your dressing room speeches – the speeches, oh! Seven summers of your hugs, shoulder pats and fist pumps for us all – newcomer, superstar… and everyone in-between. Thank you for everything, Coach! Like, you often close out, ‘Let’s leave this here mate, grab a beer, get back to work tomorrow, yeah?'”
The Capitals and their director of cricket, Indian legend Sourav Ganguly, will now be tasked with finding a replacement for Ponting, likely before the next IPL mega auction early next year.