Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting defends decision to bring back Marcus Stoinis against KKR

Stoinis
played
his
first
match
in
the
UAE
leg
of
Indian
Premier
League
(IPL
2021)
on
Wednesday
(October
13).

The
star
batter
was
promoted
up
the
order
but
he
failed
to
leave
a
mark
as
he
scored
18
runs
off
23
balls
against
KKR.

“No,
I
don’t
think
so,”
said
Ponting
during
the
post-match
press
conference
when
asked
if
sending
Stoinis
at
number
3
backfired.

“We
thought
long
and
hard
about
where
Marcus’s
best
bet
would
be
the
batting
order
for
us
today.
I
mean,
as
we
all
are
aware,
he
missed
about
three
weeks
with
a
hamstring
injury,
so
he
hadn’t
played
any
cricket.

“We
desperately
wanted
him
back
into
the
team
today
because
we
knew
he
could
bat
at
the
top
of
the
order
and
bat
down
at
the
death
if
required,”
he
added.

The
former
Australian
skipper
also
cited
how
Indian
players
struggled
to
score
in
Qualifier
2
against
KKR.

“As
you
saw
today,
with
that
type
of
pitch,
it’s
really
difficult
for
any
new
batsman
to
come
in
and
start
on.
Even
Shikhar
at
the
top
didn’t
get
away
to
the
flier
that
we
were
after,”
said
Ponting.

“Middle-order
players,
Indian
players
even
struggled
to
get
going
on
that
surface.
So,
I
think
it
was
the
right
decision.
We
probably
didn’t
get
the
outcome
that
we
were
after,
though,”
he
added.

Needing
136
runs
to
win,
KKR
were
off
to
a
brisk
start,
courtesy
of
Shubman
Gill
and
Venkatesh
Iyer.
The
duo
cashed
in
on
all
the
scoring
opportunities
and
took
KKR
to
51/0
in
the
first
six
overs.

Ponting
said
conditions
“changed
dramatically”
in
the
second
innings
and
also
praised
Iyer
for
his
gutsy
knock.

“As
you
would
have
noticed
watching
the
game,
the
conditions
changed
dramatically
from
first
innings
to
second
innings.

I
mean
the
first
probably
10
overs
of
their
beginnings,
when
they
had
a
newish
ball
and
dew
was
on
the
ground,
certainly
made
batting
look
a
lot
easier
than
what
it
seemed
for
our
guys,
but
that’s
more
the
reason
why
we
had
to
make
more
runs
than
we
did
in
the
first
innings,”
said
Ponting.

“Not
trying
to
defend
them…
but
well
done
to
the
opening
stand
today
for
KKR,
thought
they
did
a
great
job
and
I
think
they
have
actually
found
a
really
good
player
in
Venkatesh
Iyer.
He
looks
like
someone
that
could
be
a
terrific
player
for
Kolkata
and
maybe
even
India
in
the
future,”
he
added.

The
side
has
set
up
the
blockbuster
final
showdown
against
the
Chennai
Super
Kings,
which
will
take
place
in
Dubai
on
Friday
(October
15)

Rishabh
shattered

After
suffering
a
loss
in
Qualifier
2
of
the
ongoing
Indian
Premier
League
against
Kolkata
Knight
Riders,
Delhi
Capitals
skipper
Rishabh
Pant
lauded
his
bowlers
for
fighting
it
out
till
the
very
end.

Venkatesh
Iyer
and
Shubman
Gill
played
knocks
of
55
and
46
respectively
to
follow
up
Varun
Chakravarthy’s
two-wicket
haul
as
KKR
defeated
Delhi
Capitals
by
three
wickets
here
at
the
Sharjah
Cricket
Stadium.

“I
can’t
change
anything
after
the
match.
We
kept
on
believing
and
stayed
in
the
game
for
as
long
as
possible.
The
bowlers
pulled
it
back.
They
bowled
really
well
through
the
middle
overs.
We
were
stuck,
and
unable
to
rotate
the
strike.
Hopefully,
we
can
come
back
next
year
for
a
stronger
season,”
Pant
told
host
broadcaster
Star
Sports
after
the
game
ended.

Earlier,
Varun
Chakravarthy
returned
with
figures
of
2-26
as
KKR
restricted
Delhi
Capitals
to
135/5.

“We
played
really
good
cricket
throughout
the
season.
We
stuck
together,
and
cared
for
each
other.
Hopefully,
we
will
improve
next
year
and
come
back
strongly,”
said
Pant.