“I’d love to coach again in the IPL” – Ricky Ponting after ending his stint with Delhi Capitals

Former Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting has said he would love to coach again in the IPL after recently parting ways with the franchise. Ponting served as the DC’s chief coach for seven seasons after he was appointed back in 2018. 

Under Ponting’s tutelage, DC reached the IPL 2020 final in Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy but the team could not get over the line against Mumbai Indians.

Speaking on ICC Review, Ricky Ponting said, “I’d love to coach again in the IPL. I’ve had a great time every year that I’ve been involved, whether that was in the early days as a player or the couple of years I had at Mumbai as head coach there. And then I’ve had seven seasons at Delhi, which unfortunately didn’t really work out the way that I would have wanted and certainly the way that the franchise would have wanted.”

Ponting revealed Delhi Capitals’ management wanted him to spend most of his time in the country, scouting young talent for the team ahead of the mega auction.

“They made it pretty clear that they wanted to head in a different direction with someone that could give them a bit more time and a bit more availability through the off-season, really more than anything to be able to spend a bit more time in India with a lot of the local players. I just couldn’t do that with the other stuff that I’ve got going on. I think what you’ll find is that they’ll probably end up with an Indian-based head coach. Certainly that’s some of the dialogue that I’ve had with them anyway.”

Ponting admitted he had a great time coaching the Capitals and he is hopeful that he will be back coaching in the IPL next season.

“But I’m really thankful for my time that I had there, met some great people, worked with some great people and obviously worked with some great players through the years as well. So I wish them all the very best but as I said there could be a few opportunities for me popping up in the next couple of months and I’d love to be back coaching in the IPL again next season.”

After his departure from Delhi Capitals, Ponting helped Steve Smith-led Washington Freedom clinch the Major League Cricket title in the USA by beating San Francisco Unicorns in the final.