IPL 2018: Delhi Daredevils' youngsters to go from Dravid's process to Ponting's aggression
What's the matter?
The Delhi Daredevils experienced a shift in perspective after a talk with Ricky Ponting during practices. The team with Prithvi Shaw, Rishab Pant and Shreyas Iyer in the forefront have been with Rahul Dravid during the majority of their career. The all-out aggressive approach from Ponting makes him drastically different from former Daredevils coach Rahul Dravid.
"It has been really good with (Ponting so far). He has been pretty aggressive. He has got that positive frame of mind. When he came in and gave a speech to all of us, it really fired us, we almost had goose bumps," said Iyer, who was one of the three players retained by the team ahead of the auction.
In case you didn't know...
Ricky Ponting was signed by Delhi Daredevils as their coach much before the auctions of IPL 2018. The Australian legend was earlier associated with the Mumbai Indians squad.
The heart of the matter
'Punter' joined the DD camp about four days ago and the youngsters are already in awe of the former Australian captain. His inspirational talk with the youngsters seemed to have pumped the young lot ahead of the IPL. "We have a lot of youngsters in the team and they like freedom. Suddenly he came in and made us feel free," said Iyer.
With Glenn Maxwell, signed for a whopping 9 crore, the combination of Ponting and Maxwell should be one to watch out. Also, the speculations are that new captain Gautam Gambhir and the new aggressive coach will put together strategies to turn around the fate of DD in the coming season.
"He said that 'we are here to win'. His frame of mind was pretty much about winning, not about the process. Normally, everybody comes in and talks a lot about process and but this guy had just one thing in his mind and that was to win," added Iyer.
Vijay Shankar, a player from the same lot guided by Dravid in India A team, said, "It is great to have Ponting and we have a well-balanced team. What is most important is that how do well as a team." However, Iyer was quick to conclude that, "Both (Ponting and Dravid) are equally good in their way. Dravid is more calm and cool, he nurtures the kids. Ricky is pretty opposite but both have the same frame of mind."
What's next?
The energised Delhi Daredevils take on the Kings XI Punjab on the 8th of April, at Mohali.
Author's take
Ricky Ponting's talk was much needed to rejuvenate DD's morale given the history the team holds in the league. The aggressive approach is but an experiment currently, and may show better results than before. Given Ponting's record with the Mumbai Indians, it'd be great to see DD make it to the playoffs with his guidance and Gambhir's captaincy.