Ponting, Ganguly know how to prepare players, says DC batsman Shikhar Dhawan

Delhi Capitals (DC) remain the only franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) that has not made it to the final of the tournament ever. They were playing as Delhi Daredevils since the inception of the IPL in 2008 but could make the last four only thrice. Their last entry into the playoffs of the T20 tournament came in 2012. This year, the owners made a complete overhaul of the side and even changed its name to Capitals.

On Sunday, the DC beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 16 runs to qualify for the playoffs in the ongoing IPL as the second team after Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Delhi have had a good combination of batsmen and bowlers this year. While their young South African pacer Kagiso Rabada has been the highest wicket-taker in the tournament, seasoned opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has been in an excellent form as well having scored five half-centuries.

Dhawan has been in top form this IPL

However, while the players have delivered well this season, it is the presence of two gentlemen which has made things even bright for the DC. While Delhi have former Australia captain Ricky Ponting as their head coach, they also have former India captain Sourav Ganguly as an advisor and the coming together of two of the best minds of the modern cricketing era has helped Delhi play as a better unit.

Dhawan, who has been Delhi’s best scorer this season with 451 runs from 12 games at a strike-rate of 137 plus, has given the credit for Delhi’s resurrection to the Ponting-Ganguly duo.

“The coaches play an important role and in Ponting and dada (Ganguly) we have two former skippers who led their teams successfully and know how to go about the job of planning and strategising. They know how to prepare players and give them confidence,” the 33-year-old batsman, also fondly called ‘Gabbar’ said on the eve of the match against CSK.

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Speaking about the Delhi team, Dhawan said the side has performed in all departments, making their rise possible. He said both the team’s batting and bowling departments have the required arsenal and praised players like Rishabh Pant, skipper Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw and others.

Dhawan had played for Delhi way back in 2008 and returned to his home-based franchise this year after playing for a number of other franchises, the last being Sunrisers Hyderabad.

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