“He will build a good team” – Mohammad Kaif wants Sourav Ganguly to become Delhi Capitals head coach ahead of IPL 2025 auctions
Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif has backed ex-India captain Sourav Ganguly to succeed if he takes the head coach role at Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals (DC). Kaif reckons experienced Ganguly will tick the box at the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction.
The 43-year-old believes that the Delhi-based franchise lacked proper backing for their players during the era of former coach Ricky Ponting, whose seven-year contract ended earlier this month.
Kaif, who has previously worked at the Capitals as an assistant coach, added that the team lost crucial players like Mandeep Singh, Mustafizur Rahman, and Rilee Rossouw, who succeeded at other franchises. He told IANS (via The Times of India):
"I feel Sourav Ganguly will do a good job if he takes over as Delhi Capitals head coach. He has experience, and a mega auction is also coming, so he will build a good team. Delhi had players but their problem was inconsistent playing 11. I don't think they had issues with the players, they had quality players but they somehow lacked in backing their players.
"Delhi Capitals rotate their players so much. New players come and go, they had Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Rilee Rossouw, and Ripal Patel for whom they said they're grooming him. But they are not following their template of making a team of youngsters as they move on from that and bring in senior players. They don't back their players and keep on changing players,” he added.
“This is where the puzzle goes wrong” – Mohammad Kaif points out the challenges of coaching in IPL
Mohammad Kaif further pointed out that coaching gets challenging when the team loses a string of matches in the IPL. The cricketer-turned-commentator also revealed where he feels the Capitals made tactical errors in the past. He concluded:
"Captains like Rohit Sharma and Ricky Ponting should not have an issue from the management. He is a legend and he should know how to run the team. The challenge comes when you lose 2-3 matches and after that, the management also gets involved and asks, 'Why are you losing?'
"When management asks what is going on, this is where the puzzle goes wrong and pressure builds. Delhi made tactical mistakes in the last few matches and missed out on the (play-off) qualification,” he added.
DC finished sixth in the IPL 2024 points table, with seven wins in 14 matches. They had a lower net run rate than Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). RCB qualified for the playoffs with the same points.