The former Australian captain, Ricky Ponting wants to come back as a coach in the IPL (Indian Premier League). He served the Delhi Capitals (DC) franchise for 7 years in the IPL. DC sacked him from this role after IPL 2024 because the franchise wanted someone who could stay with the local talent for more time. Now, Ricky Ponting is keen to be back in the IPL as coach. He talks about the reason for his parting ways with the Delhi Capitals. The Australian also talks about his experience as a player in the IPL. Today, we will see what Ponting has said regarding his comeback in the IPL in detail. So let’s start.
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Ricky Ponting served DC as a head coach for 7 years
Ricky Ponting played his last game in the IPL for Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2013. After that, he joined MI as a head coach in 2014. He was with the MI franchise in this role for three years (from 2014 to 2016). The Aussie won the title with MI in that period in 2015.
Ponting joined DC in 2018 and served as a head coach for 7 years. He was with DC from 2018 to 2024. Unfortunately, he hasn’t won any title with DC in these 7 years.
DC sacked Ricky Ponting from the head coach role after IPL 2024
After the IPL 2024 season, DC decided to sack Ricky Ponting from the role of head coach. They wanted a coach who could give more time to local talent in India. DC is looking for someone who can stay in India even after the IPL season gets over and help them find local talent.
Ricky Ponting, on the other hand, can’t give that much time to the franchise. The Australian legend said he has other things lined up as well. Somehow, things didn’t work out and the franchise and Ponting didn’t come to the same page. He has to part ways with the DC franchise.
“They wanted to go in a different direction with someone who could devote more time in India after the season to help in finding new talents. I was not available as I have other things lined up. I think they will go with the Indian head coach. – Ricky Ponting on parting ways with DC.
Also, there were some earlier reports which suggest Ponting was offered the role of Team India’s new head coach (unofficially), but he denied citing he has a young family and can’t travel for a whole year with the team.
Ponting wants to come back to the IPL as a coach
Now, Ricky Ponting shows interest in coming back in the IPL as a coach. While talking about his interest in coming back, he shares his experience as a coach with DC and MI in the IPL. He also enjoyed his time in the IPL as a player.
“I would love to return to IPL as a coach. Had a great time with Delhi Capital, and I even enjoyed my stint as a player in the tournament. I was involved with Mumbai Indians as their coach. Couldn’t win a title with Delhi, and things couldn’t work out the way the franchise and I would have wanted.- Ponting said.
Ponting’s coaching career
Ricky Ponting entered into the coaching role for the first time in 2014 with MI. He won an IPL title with the franchise in 2015. He last served MI as a head coach in 2016.
In 2017, Ponting was appointed as an interim coach of Australia’s T20I series against Sri Lanka (SL). He joined Australia’s Men’s Cricket Team’s assistant coaching team for the 2017-18 Trans-Tasman Tri-Series.
In 2018, he joined DC in 2018 and continued as a head coach till 2024 IPL season. Unfortunately, he didn’t win an IPL title with DC. His only achievement in DC was when the team played the final of the IPL 2020.
This year (2024), Washington Freedom signed Ricky Ponting for two years as a new head coach in the Major Cricket League (MLC) tournament. The team won the title this year in his coaching and Steve Smith’s captaincy.
Conclusion
So this is what Ricky Ponting has to say, showing his interest to come back as a coach in the IPL. So many foreign players won’t go for a full-time role because of their reasons. DC might look for an Indian head coach who can understand Indian domestic cricket, and it will be easy for him as he lives in India only.
Other foreign coaches like Stephen Fleming, Andy Flower, Justin Langer, etc were approached by the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) for the job of new head coach of Team India, but the role demands a lot of travel and time. That’s why all the players were not keen to go for it. Rather, they look for a short-term role where they have to serve for not more than 2-3 months. Ricky Ponting also did the same thing.
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FAQs:-
(1) How many IPL matches Ricky Ponting has played in his career?
He only played 10 IPL games in his career. In those games, he scored 91 runs with an average of 10.11.
(2) How many ICC trophies Ponting has won as Australia’s captain?
As Australia’s captain, he has 4 ICC trophies. He won two ICC ODI WC in 2003 and 2007, and two ICC Champions Trophy in 2006 and 2009.
(3) How many runs Ponting has scored in his international career?
He has scored a total of 27,483 runs in his international career.
(4) How many IPL seasons Ponting has played?
Ricky Ponting has only played in two IPL seasons. He played for KKR in 2008 and MI in 2013.
