‘Shreyas Iyer has got an infectious attitude’: Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting delighted with his return for IPL

Former Australia captain and current Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting is delighted to have Shreyas Iyer back in the squad. Describing Iyer as a ‘world-class player’, Ponting said the right-hander has got an ‘infectious attitude’ which rubs on the rest of the players, inspiring them to give their best on the cricket field. 

“It’s great to have Shreyas back. He has got an infectious attitude,” Ponting told DC when asked about Iyer’s return to the side post recovering from his shoulder injury.

Iyer had missed the first half of IPL 2021, which took place in India earlier this year, because of a shoulder injury he had suffered in a home ODI against England weeks ahead of the start of the Indian Premier League. 

Rishabh Pant was named as captain in place of Iyer for IPL 2021.

“I have been talking to him a lot and his training has been great. He’s so keen to get back into the field, score runs and win. He’s a world-class player and he’s going to add a lot to our team, there’s no doubt about that,” Ponting added. 

The long lay off due to the shoulder injury, pegged Iyer in the pecking order as far as his place in the Indian side is concerned. The talented right-hander could not make it to the main 15-member Indian squad for the T20 World Cup slated to be played in UAE and Oman in October-November. He was named as one of the reserve players. Iyer will be hoping to get his spot back in the side with a good outing in the remaining matches of IPL 2021 which begins on September 19 in the UAE. 

‘Doesn’t matter what did in first half of IPL 2021′: Ponting

Ponting sounded quite confident about DC’s chances of going all the way this time around. He said that the players have shown great intensity during the pre-season camp.

“I have been waiting for four months to come back to the Delhi Capitals camp. I have such a great time when I work with the team and it’s a great time in my calendar year. I have been keeping a close eye on what’s been happening here. I have been speaking to the coaching staff here and they have done a great job so far (in the pre-season camp). You can see with the intensity and the attitude shown by the players that it’s been a really worthwhile camp so far. I am really excited about what we’ve got coming up in the next four-five weeks,” said the 46-year-old.

Ponting added that the team’s performance in the first half of the IPL 2021 season doesn’t matter and that the side will have to re-build once again.

“It doesn’t matter what we’ve done in the first half of the season. It’s been four months since when we played some really good cricket, so we really have to start again. We have to build ourselves as we go along in the tournament and make sure that we are playing our best cricket at the back end of the tournament. Our performance in the first half of the tournament was because of how well we played and how hard we worked, but I don’t think we played our best cricket,” said the Head Coach.

The Delhi Capitals are set to take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad on 22 September 2021.