Currently, Ricky Ponting is no longer the head coach of Delhi Capitals but, recently, he has shared one issue he had with the Indian players in IPL. The Tasmanian, who has also trained the Mumbai Indians, mentioned that he despised_INTR1 and the other Indian players in his team, as well as the players on the other team, socializing before the game as that diminished the competitiveness.
Cricketing Fraternalism: Indian Stars’ Bonding and Conflicts on the Field
For example, there are instances all through the place that the likes of Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Rishabh Pant, and numerous other Indian cricketers are seen fraternizing independently to each other before IPL matches get into full swing. They also have complacent conflicts between each other in the midst of the matches.
In an interview to Cricbuzz, Ponting said that he will not ever address his ex-companion or countryman before any intensive match. The 49-year-old used Justin Langer’s case and said how he never shook hands with him before the match in IPL 2024. He said:
“One thing that I always struggled with the IPL, obviously, was that a lot of the Indian guys play in the national team together and you tend to get to the ground really early – about two hours before the game starts. And a lot of the players sort of catch up on the ground and put their arms around each other and give them a cuddle whenever they meet each other before the game starts, but I’d never do that,”
“Justin Langer this year, for instance. I’ve played 15 years of cricket with him. I actually didn’t even look at him or shake his hand until the game or games were over. So that’s just my competitive nature coming out,”
Cricketing Fraternalism: Indian Stars’ Bonding and Conflicts on the Field
The 164-Test veteran was appointed as the director of operations for Delhi-based franchise in the build-up to the 2018 season and parted ways with the franchise after seven seasons. While under him Mumbai Indians managed to win the trophy the same was not the case with Delhi.
But still, Ponting gave a rather ‘contrasting’ notion stating that he felt a lot more tense as compared to what he was in international level now that he is playing for the Hobart. He said:
“It probably doesn’t change the outcome but I think it sets a pretty good idea to the opposition that I’m there to get my job done and to have my team win that game of cricket. I’ll probably have been a little bit more relaxed here to be honest,”
“Pravin Amre has been an assistant coach with me at Delhi for seven years. I didn’t see him until after the game was over so that’s just me, but everyone’s different I guess,”