The Australian legend said, “I had pretty high expectations coming here . I knew we had put a really good squad of players together. We had a great start, but things got a little bit shaky towards the back-end, but the boys have managed to play two really good games out of their last three, and hopefully we can play our best game in the final.”
“Looking back, yeah it’s been a good season, but we still haven’t won anything yet - and that’s what we are here for – we are here to win the IPL, and we’ll give it our best shot,” he added.
There were several ups and downs in the group league stage and Delhi Capitals came so far through these phases . What is his take on that ? Ponting said , “Yeah, it was a little bit frustrating because up until that point (four consecutive losses), we had played some very good cricket and we were arguably the best team in the tournament. But I think some of the boys got a little bit complacent and it was at that stage of the tournament where things were starting to get a little bit tough for everybody, but to their credit they found a way to fight back and played really well in a must-win game against RCB, and yesterday (vs SRH) was one of our best performances as well – particularly with the bat. I think our best cricket is still yet to come.”
Sending Marcus Stoinis to open the innings against Hyderabad in the 2nd IPL Qualifier match changed the balance of Delhi Capitals , and the Australian veteran believes Stoinis provided his team with a “presence in the powerplay overs”.
He said, “The way our team balances worked out in the first part of the tournament with Prithvi and Rahane both being there, made it difficult to get Stoinis up the order. But every time he (Stoinis) has been given an opportunity in the tournament, especially if he went in with 10 or 12 overs to go, he played really well. He opens in the BigBash, and I’ve seen some amazing innings from him back in Australia at the top of the order. I think he’s vastly improved in the past 12 months and we are all starting to see how good he can be with the bat and the bowl and even in the field.”
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“With him up the order, it was a much needed presence in the powerplay overs, and that helped us as well. The SRH bowlers knew that if they missed their mark, Stoinis would not let the opportunity to score go. And Shikhar Dhawan has probably had his best season ever in the IPL this time, and these are good signs for us. And we still haven’t got the best out of Rishabh in this tournament – so if he happens to fire in the final, I think we’re capable of making a really big score,” added Pointing.