GREAT TO HAVE PANT AND SHREYAS BACK TOGETHER, SAYS DELHI CAPITALS COACH PONTING

After registering an emphatic eight-wicket win over SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season, Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting on Thursday said it is great to have Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant back playing together.

Shreyas and Pant played unbeaten knocks of 47 and 35 runs respectively as Delhi Capitals chased down the target of 135 with eight wickets in hand and 13 balls to spare. With this win, the franchise rose to the top spot in the IPL standings with 14 points. “Great to have these two back together. Strong team performance and happy to restart things with a win after our bowlers did a great job. @DelhiCapitals,” tweeted Ponting.

Earlier this year, Delhi had named Rishabh Pant as captain for the IPL 2021 season as Shreyas was ruled out of the first half of the tournament. The franchise retained Pant as captain even as Shreyas came back into the setup for the second half in the UAE.

“When I got the captaincy of Delhi Capitals, it benefitted me a lot as my temperament got better. But obviously, this is part of the decision making and I respect the franchise’s decision. Rishabh Pant is leading really well since the start of the season and I respect the decision to continue with him. I like soaking in the pressure and I like to perform when there are challenges. It is not like I am focusing a lot on my batting just because I am not the captain,” said Shreyas during a virtual press conference.

In the match against SRH, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje took five wickets among themselves as SunRisers was restricted to 134/9 in the allotted twenty overs. For Kane Williamson’s side, Abdul Samad top-scored with a knock of 28 runs. Delhi Capitals will next square off against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday.