As the Delhi Capitals gear up for the IPL 2024, head coach Ricky Ponting reflected on the preparations that the team is putting in their efforts of lifting their maiden title. Ponting joined the team for the first training session of the season in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.

“What I saw today was very exciting, very promising. It’s great to be back with the Delhi Capitals family. It’s just the start. We don’t expect to be practising at our absolute best right now. We’re not even so much looking forward to the first game yet. We’re getting some volume work done,” he said.

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Talking about his reunion with the wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, the DC head coach said, “We missed him incredibly last year. The whole tournament missed him. Rishabh brings so much energy to the team. He’s got that smile on his face, he’s hitting the ball as good as ever and he tends to lift all of his teammates around him.”

When asked about the team’s approach this year, Ponting said, “It’s not a different approach, it’s the same, but I’m going to be more intense with the way that I go about it this year. Every time I come here I talk about wanting to win the IPL and nothing changes there. I’m just going to talk about that a lot more this year.”

“I want the guys to be fully engaged and that’s the reason we’re all here. It’s my job to bring success to this team. We’re not talking about just winning enough games to qualify. We’re talking about winning the IPL. Everything we do, every training session we have, every meeting we have, every recovery session we have, every chat that I have with the players is going to be about making them better to give ourselves the best chance of winning,” he concluded.

Pant’s bat swing was vintage: Amre

Delhi Capitals’ assistant coach Pravin Amre praised comeback man Pant’s bat swing during the team’s first extensive training session on Thursday.

“As coaching unit and personally, it was really pleasing to see him bat. It didn’t feel like he was batting after a long time, the bat swing was vintage. We have to give credit to him, the way he has worked hard throughout the year, is not easy. It shows how mentally strong and hungry he is,” Amre said.

Sharing his thoughts on the team’s training session, Amre said, “We wanted to get together and get a feel of the wicket. There were newcomers as well, so we wanted to welcome them and enjoy the session as a team.”

“We will also be playing practice matches so that will help us cover all bases going into the tournament. The way we have planned our sessions will help us go fresh and prepared for our first game in Mohali,” the 55-year-old added.

Delhi Capitals will play their first two home matches in Visakhapatnam. Speaking about the new home base, Amre stated, “Vizag has always been a high-scoring ground and that’s what we wanted. It has got that true bounce and we are just looking forward to seeing what it has to offer.”

“The thing that matters the most is to start the tournament on a good note and it is important to provide that kind of surface where our players give their best for the team,” he concluded.

The Capitals will begin their IPL 2024 campaign against Punjab Kings on March 23 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium in Mullanpur.