DC coach Ponting unhappy after captain Rishabh Pant used Tom Curran in last over instead of Rabada against CSK

With Kagiso Rabada left with one over, DC captain Rishabh Pant opted to give the ball to Tom Curran who was playing his first game of the UAE leg.

In that over, Tom Curran removed Moeen Ali but Dhoni held the nerves and smashed three fours to seal the CSK’s spot in the summit clash for the ninth time.

When asked about this choice by the skipper to not bowl Rabada, Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting said decision was down to the gut feeling of Rishabh Pant and also stated that Tom Curran will have a good learning experience from that last over.

“I haven’t had a chance to ask the captain that yet. Obviously, those calls are made on the field,” said Delhi’s head coach Ricky Ponting while addressing the media soon after the match.

“And Tom had bowled his first three overs for 16, had bowled really, really well. And done a good job. So that’s down to the gut feel of the captain in the middle at that time.

And Rishabh obviously thought that Tom was the right man to bowl that last over on the back of how well he had already bowled in the game. It didn’t pay off for us tonight.

I think it will be a good learning experience for Tom again. He can work out how he can get better at closing that last over out a little bit better. But we’ll get back to the rooms and have a bit of a debrief with the players.”

“And will certainly have a chat with Rishabh about all the tactics that happened in the game. Because that’s what we generally do. Win, lose or draw, we look deep into what we’ve done on the field and see ways we can improve for the next game,” he added.

Another of those decisions in a tight game, also involved Pant and Curran. But this time with the bat in hand was the former’s decision to farm the strike in the final over resulting in three dot balls and Delhi finishing with 172.

“After the first run that he didn’t take, I think the bowling coach James Hopes turned to me and said ‘I think we should be taking every run we can get now.’ I said let’s just wait till the end of the over and make our judgement then.

”I think Rishabh is going to back himself more often than not. Tom Curran had faced only one or two balls since he had been at the crease and he was probably going to find it harder to find the boundaries.

”So look, Rishabh is the captain and he’s trying to make those decisions on the run and that was a decision he made tonight,” mentioned Ponting.

Talking about Shardul Thakur’s promotion to No 4 in the batting order for CSK, Ponting opined: “I think we all were a bit surprised when we saw him go out there. But if you looked at the scoreboard at that stage, it was pretty evident what they were trying to do – send out a pinch hitter, let him try and take on the spin.

And Tom Curran was bowling at that time, cash in on a couple of cheap runs which would have pushed them a long way ahead in the run rate.” With Ruturaj’s departure in the penultimate over, CSK were left needing 24 off 11 balls as Dhoni walked in.

Sharing his opinion on CSK’s captain cameo, the Australian said: “Look, I think he’s been one of the greats, there’s no doubt about that. I think there was a situation tonight when we were sitting in the dugout and thinking ‘Would Jadeja come next? Would Dhoni come out next?’

I put my hand up straight away and said I’m pretty sure that Dhoni will come out now and try and ice the game.”

DC will now take on the winners of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Eliminator for a place in the summit clash.

Pant dejected

Delhi skipper Rishabh Pant fell short of words to describe how he felt after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) clinched the Qualifier 1 at the Dubai International Stadium. CSK defeated Delhi Capitals by four wickets in Qualifier 1 as Dhoni returned to form with a much needed 18 off six balls.

In the last two overs, CSK needed 24 runs but Avesh Khan dismissed set batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad on the first ball of the 19th over.

Dhoni whacked a six and match came down to 13 needed off the last six balls. In the final over, Tom Curran removed Moeen Ali but Dhoni held the nerves to seal the CSK spot in the final.

“Obviously, it’s very disappointing, don’t have enough words to describe how we are feeling right now. The only thing we can do is rectify our mistakes and move on to the next one. I thought that Tom bowled beautifully throughout the match, last over, unfortunately, went for runs,” said Pant during the post-match presentation.

“I thought the bowler who is having a great day, it’s better to use him for the last over. I thought the score was decent but they got off to a flier in the powerplay and we didn’t get enough wickets and that was the main difference,” he added.

“As a cricketer, we are going to rectify our mistakes, gonna learn from it and move on to the next one. Hopefully, we can win and play the final,” Pant signed off.