Would love to have Rishabh Pant in the dugout in all our home games: DC Head Coach Ricky Ponting

New Delhi, 29 March 2023: The Delhi Capitals' Head Coach Ricky Ponting has been busy getting the team ready for the IPL 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi in the past week.

Notably, the Capitals will be without their regular skipper Rishabh Pant, who has been ruled out of the tournament in its entirety as he continues to recover from the injuries suffered in a horrific car crash last December. In Pant’s absence, it will be Australia southpaw David Warner who will be helming the affairs of the franchise in coordination with head coach and fellow Australian Ricky Ponting.

When asked about the change of guard in leadership for this season, Ponting said, "I have spoken to Rishabh a bit. We are hoping to get him involved this season. I'd love to have him at all our home games. Having him in our dugout or our change room will be very special. However, David Warner will do a great job. He has been a successful franchise cricket captain in the past. He's excited to lead the team as well."

Ponting also spoke about working with DC Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly, "I have spoken to Sourav about the players we've got, possible line-ups, possible keepers and things like that. He has always got some good things to say to the players during training. It was a lot of fun to work with him in 2019 and we won a lot of games."

The Australian legend is also excited about the IPL moving back to the regular home and away format after three seasons, "It'll be harder on the players with much more travel in this IPL. But this is part and parcel of franchise cricket. I think more travelling makes the tournament more exciting. We'll get to play in a lot of different venues and in front of many different groups of fans."

The Delhi Capitals will take on Lucknow Super Giants in their first game of IPL 2023 on Saturday, 01 April 2023.