After facing a defeat against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday at Wankhede Stadium, Delhi Capital’s head coach Ricky Ponting opened up about Ishant Sharma. Ponting said the senior pacer is suffering from a heel niggle and they are working on his speedy recovery.
Ishant has missed the first two games of the season and Avesh Khan made his way in Ishant’s absence. Avesh has been impressive in both games. Speaking on the same, Ricky Ponting said that they are working on Ishant Sharma’s recovery; however, admitted that young Avesh has grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
Ishant Sharma suffering from a heel niggle
The former Aussie skipper is confident that if Avesh continues to perform consistently alongside Kagiso Rabada and Chris Woakes, the Delhi Capitals bowling attack will be one of the most fearsome pace batteries in IPL 2021. So far, he has picked five wickets from two matches with the best figures of three for 32.
“He has been ultra-impressive, pretty much from the first day we arrived here for the training camp. Physically he looks a little bit better, he lost a little bit of weight from last season. He is definitely fitter and bowling faster. Without a little bit of extra fitness on his side, he is able to maintain his action better. His lines and lengths and slower ball execution are excellent so far,” Ponting told ANI in the virtual press conference after the match.
“Coming into the first game, Ishant Sharma obviously had a heel niggle that we have been trying to work through but Avesh grabbed his opportunity with both hands. He has been around with this franchise for a few years now and has not got the opportunity that he has been craving. Look so far, he has been one of our real find and if you got an Indian fast bowler like him and the likes of Woakes, Rabada, Nortje and T Curran around we end up with a really strong fast bowling brigade,” he added.
Yesterday, a cameo from Royals’ Chris Morris (36 off 18) and David Miller’s knock of 62 runs helped Sanju Samson-led side to seal the match in a low-scoring thriller. Miller, the left-handed batter walked out to bat when Rajasthan Royals were reeling at 17/3 and made sure his side got a significant knock. When RR needed 27 off the final two overs, Morris joined the side and crossed the line with two deliveries to spare.
Divulging on the same, Ricky Ponting said that the bowlers gave Chris Morris too many loose deliveries. The former Aussie captain admitted that the plan was there; however, they failed to execute it properly.
“We probably gave him (Morris) a few too many easy balls, a few too many slot balls if you like. The length wasn’t quite where it needed to be. If you look at the replay of the game, if you bowled a reasonable yorker, he didn’t score off them. If it was back of a length, sort of, above stump high, he didn’t get hold of them either, especially with pace on the ball. We talked about how to bowl to him, but the execution probably wasn’t there,” Ricky Ponting said.
“The other thing you have got to factor in is just how wet and how dewy the ball was in the second innings of the game. It wasn’t easy for the bowlers to grip. You could see it at the end there. There were a few full tosses that fast bowlers bowled with the ball slipping out of their hand a little bit. That’s part and parcel of IPL cricket. We knew coming here that there will be a little bit of dew in the second half of the game. And we didn’t adapt, and we didn’t execute as well as we could have tonight,” he concluded.
On Sunday, Delhi Capitals will next play against Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium.
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