‘One of the reasons I identified him at the auction': Ricky Ponting predicts ‘the find of IPL’

Delhi Capitals had finished as the table-toppers in the previous edition, have won two of the four matches they've played.

Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals have so far enjoyed a mixed campaign in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team, who had finished as the table-toppers in the previous edition, have won two of the four matches they've played.

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting  (IPL)

However, the previous encounter, which saw Capitals thrash Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 44 runs could work as a catalyst to lift the confidence. The franchise had outperformed their opponent in both the departments. Batting first they had piled 215/5 on the board and then folded the KKR innings for 171.

Kuldeep Yadav, in particular, had a brilliant outing against his former franchise and was also named Player of the Match for his rich haul.

Ricky Ponting, Delhi Capitals’ coach, also seemed to be pleased with the left-arm wrist spinner's performance and in a recent interaction on The Delhi Capitals podcast he went on to make a huge claim regarding the spinner.

“We are unlocking little handbrakes that might be holding players back. Even Kuldeep Yadav. For someone like him to be at KKR for couple of years and not playing – I understand they have some good spinners – one of the reasons I identified him at the auction was for that reason. I thought if we could bring him into our environment and really give him lots of confidence, I thought he could be one of the finds of the tournament,” he said in The Delhi Capitals podcast. “He is bowling beautifully and growing in this environment."

The former Australia captain also explained the importance of being patient with players like Kuldeep.

“With spinners in T20 cricket there will be ups and downs. Regardless of his performances, he will be treated the same by us and the team-mates. That’s the family environment here. It doesn’t matter what the results are,” he said.

Ponting also revealed that he had his eyes on the spinner and was keen on getting him on-board with the Capitals.

“The thing with him he has been out for 3-4 years, hardly played any cricket at all. With the Indian team, he has been on the outer and with KKR, with [Varun] Chakravarthy and Narine, and even Shakib [Al Hasan] it has been hard for him to get a game.”

“I have watched him for number of years and have talked about him leading up to other auctions for number of years as well but it wasn’t till this year we could get our hands on him. It’s great to hear that he feels confident and that’s our job,” he said.