Ricky Ponting, head coach of the Delhi Capitals, has acknowledged that there are some difficulties for Prithvi Shaw when facing left-arm pacers. He further shared that the DC’s think tank must work with the batter to help him strengthen this apparent weakness since opposition teams will be aware of it. On Saturday, April 8, Shaw was dismissed for a duck in the IPL 2023 match against Rajasthan Royals at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati; he had been sent in as the ‘Impact Player’ after DC was set a target of 200. In a post-match conference, Ponting gave his views on Shaw’s batting. He stated:
“Probably it was the moving ball that worried him today (Saturday). If any of you guys were at training yesterday (Friday) and watched him bat, he looked like a million dollars. So, his preparation was great. It’s probably something we need to think about.
“He’s got a poor record now against left-armers; it’s something every opposition would know; it’s something that we need to work on with him.” Ponting added. “But as I said, we’re not going to point fingers at one person, we don’t do that at Delhi Capitals. We’re all in this together and have to play better as a group of 11-12 to get the results we’re after.”
Ponting on Shaw
Shaw has recorded scores of 12 and 7 in DC’s opening two matches.
“I’ll just let the guys have a think of it”: Ponting
On Saturday, Delhi Capitals (DC) fell to their third consecutive loss in IPL 2023. After the game, the head coach admitted that they had failed to execute plans during the match but could not identify the cause of their struggles. Ponting commented:
“We are a long way off right now. I can’t put my finger on why because I watch these boys train and prepare. Their work has been really good, their training has been great, but it hasn’t come across in terms of results yet on the field.
“If I could put my finger on it, I’d do something to change it. We need to do some more soul-searching as a group and talk about it. Maybe not tonight. I’ll just let the guys have a think of it. We may address it the next day, but we need to turn it around pretty quickly. Three games in and no wins…you can’t get afford to get off to bad starts in the IPL.”
“You look at our first two overs with the ball, they were none for 32 with eight fours and nothing else; it says our execution with the ball was way below what it needs to be. So, if you look at the first two overs of our bowling innings and first two overs of our batting innings, you put those together, and it’s very hard to win games of cricket.”
Ponting further added.
Delhi will face MI in their next match in IPL on April 11, Tuesday at their home venue.