'Manish Pandey over Prithvi Shaw? This is a joke': Ponting blasted for 'seriously unbelievable' act in RR vs DC tie

One of DC's moves left fans fuming at the team management, particularly at head coach Ricky Ponting as star batter Prithvi Shaw was benched

Published on: Apr 8, 2023, 16:58:16 IST

By HT Sports Desk

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After a forgettable start to their IPL 2023 campaign where Delhi Capitals incurred back-to-back losses, last of which came at their home ground, DC aim for a turnaround in their away game against last year's runners-up Rajasthan Royals at Guwahati. DC made a couple of changes for the match, where they opted to bowl first, and one of those moves left fans fuming at the team management, particularly at head coach Ricky Ponting as star batter Prithvi Shaw was benched. (RR vs DC Live Score, IPL 2023)

Shaw did not have a perfect start to IPL 2023 where he managed only 19 runs in two innings and was undone by sheer pace on both the occasions. The scores stood as a stark contrast to what was expected of him after a stunning run in the 2022-23 domestic season where he was impressively consistent with his knocks which included big hundreds in the Duleep Trophy, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Ranji Trophy, leading up to his first ever India call-up in two years.

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DC head coach Ponting too was full of praise for Shaw before the start of IPL 2023. He had said: "He just has that 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 I think with the level of talent and ability that he's got, I think we're going to see the real Prithvi Shaw this season."

However, after a struggling start of his sixth IPL season, Shaw was benched for the crucial match against Rajasthan and Manish Pandey was picked in his stead.

Here is how Twitter reacted…

"There is one forced change with Powell coming in for Marsh. There are changes. Lalit comes in as well for Sarfraz. Manish Pandey comes in," DC skipper Warner had said after winning the toss.

Shaw has however been slotted into the Impact Player list for the match against RR.

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