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Delhi Capitals bank on Shaw and Warner show

Mar 24, 2023 06:44 PM IST

Pant will be missing but head coach Ponting expects others to step forward this season

As far as build-ups go, it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2023. The biggest jolt, of course, was the car accident to star wicketkeeper-batter and captain Rishabh Pant last December, ruling the 25-year-old out of action for at least the first six months of this year. As a result, the IPL franchise has been compelled to turn to Australia’s David Warner to take up the mantle of captaincy. Given that the opening batter captained Sunrisers Hyderabad for many seasons and led them to the IPL title in 2016, the Capitals will not be fretting about the 36-year-old's leadership skills.

Shaw had missed DC's previous match as well(PTI)
Shaw had missed DC's previous match as well(PTI)

“David brings a lot of passion, skill and experience. His experience with Sunrisers will hold us in good stead this year. You look at the most successful IPL teams and they have always had good, strong and experienced leaders. That’s what we will have at DC this year with Warner taking over,” said Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting during a media interaction on Friday.

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While Warner’s years of wisdom will come in handy as skipper, Pant’s absence leaves a gaping void in the middle order. He was also the only specialist Indian wicketkeeper in the squad.

The situation has forced the Capitals to ask batter Sarfaraz Khan to practice his wicketkeeping skills in recent months. Capitals have also summoned four domestic keepers to their training camp, with the decision on Pant’s replacement set to be taken after their second practice game on March 28. It will be a replacement only in theory according to Ponting though, for it is impossible to find a player who brings as much to the table as Pant.

“Obviously, Pant is a huge loss. Irrespective of who we bring into that role, you are going to still miss Rishabh. He is one of the best players in the world. To try and replace him is going to be pretty much impossible,” Ponting said. “I am hoping that I can have Pant sit beside me in the dugout during our home games. We want to try and involve him as much as we can around Delhi Capitals. We may also look to have his shirt number on the players’ jerseys or caps.”

In Pant’s absence, Ponting picked out 26-year-old Aman Khan, who was traded from Kolkata Knight Riders in exchange for Shardul Thakur, as someone who has the potential to lend firepower to the middle-order.

“What we have tried at DC is to make sure we have the best young talent available and then work on them. We have Sarfaraz, Yash Dhull and Lalit Yadav. Aman Khan is someone who has really impressed. His last couple of days at training have been pretty special,” Ponting enthused. “When you talk about losing some power in the middle order, if you add someone like Aman Khan, Rovman Powell and even Axar’s batting has improved a lot over the past 12 months, we will find a way to cover for Rishabh. You are not going to get the same quality there, but we think we can have as good a middle order as any team in the tournament.”

Ponting has big expectations from Prithvi Shaw too. The Mumbai opener has been crippled by inconsistency and off-field troubles in his young career, but the Australian — who also battled the pitfalls of early stardom during his career — is backing Shaw to turn the corner for good.

“He’s been here in the camp right from the start. He’s worked hard and trained better than I have ever seen him leading up to an IPL. He’s in better physical shape than I’ve ever seen him before. I honestly feel that this is going to be his biggest season ever in the IPL. He just has a different look in his eye this year. You can see that he’s probably hungrier than ever. Yes, he’s had some success for us but the level of talent and ability he has got, I think we are going to see the real Prithvi Shaw this season,” Ponting said.

In the past, Shaw may have given the impression of not caring enough about his fitness and work ethic. “This season though, something seems to have clicked with Prithvi,” Ponting noted. “He's done extra work in every session since we've been here, whether it's on his batting, fielding or his fitness. That's a great sign.”

With just a week to go for the first game of the campaign, all the teams must be currently busy figuring out their best combinations. Adding an extra layer of intrigue is the impact player ruling that has come into the equation this season. Asked how Capitals will use the provision, Ponting said: “It depends on whether you are batting or bowling first. It actually almost negates the role of all-rounders in the game now. You don't need to pick all-rounders. You can name a batting team and a bowling-heavy team and take one out and bring another one in. The all-rounders, unless they are absolutely world class and are getting picked either as a batter or as a bowler rather than as a bits and pieces guy, become redundant.”

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Vivek Krishnan is a sports journalist who enjoys covering cricket and football among other disciplines. He wanted to be a cricketer himself but has gladly settled for watching and writing on different sports.

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