Hope Axar Patel and Ravi Ashwin have some wickets left: Ricky Ponting

On Sunday, March 7, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released the schedule for the highly-anticipated upcoming 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). IPL returns home after almost two years and will be played across six venues namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata in a bio-secure bubble from April 9 to May 30, 2021.

The IPL governing council has made some key changes to ensure that the tournament is conducted without any biasness. To eliminate the home advantage for the selected franchises, it has been decided that the league will be conducted in neutral venues with no teams playing at their home grounds.

As the schedule for the IPL was announced, former Australian captain and head coach of IPL franchise Delhi Capitals (DC) Ricky Ponting took to his official Twitter account to show his excitement. Ponting also posted a light-hearted tweet to pull the leg of Delhi’s three main players Ravi Ashwin, Axar Patel, and Rishabh Pant.  

“Can’t wait to get over to @delhicapitals and get to work. Hope @akshar2026 and @ashwinravi99 have some wickets left after taking all of them in the last month, and @rishabhpant17 has more runs to make!” Ponting tweeted.

Can't wait to get over to @delhicapitals and get to work. Hope @akshar2026 and @ashwinravi99 have some wickets left after taking all of them in the last month, and @rishabhpant17 has more runs to make! https://t.co/5Q8btBhjqq

— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) March 8, 2021

Delhi Capitals trio shines in Tests against England

With his tweet, Ponting referred to the amazing performances delivered by all the three DC cricketers in the just-concluded four-match Test series against England as the Men in Blue registered a stunning victory by 3-1. The spin duo of Ravi Ashwin and Axar Patel had emerged as the wrecker-in-chief for India as the opposition batsmen couldn’t survive their lethal spin attack.

Ashwin finished the series as the highest wicket-taker with 32 scalps under his belt in 4 games at an average of 14.71 including three five-wicket hauls. Axar, who had made his Test debut in the second Test of the series in Chennai, had a dream outing as he ended up with 27 wickets in three games including four five-wicket hauls.

Rishabh Pant, on the other hand, was adjudged as the Man of the Match in the last Test for his century and has 270 runs in six innings at an average of 54.