IPL 2018: Gambhir’s Stepping Down Didn’t Have Any Negative Impact on Our Team: Ricky Ponting

Delhi Daredevils’ head coach Ricky Ponting, insisted that Gautam Gambhir, who stepped down as captain midway through the season did not have any negative impact on the team.

Despite being one of the pre-tournament favourites, the Daredevils started the season in a dismal manner. Daredevils had re-signed Gambhir in this year’s auction, ending his highly-successful seven-year stint with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

During his time in Kolkata, Gambhir had led the team to two IPL titles. Speculations were high that he would replicate the same performance with the Daredevils. However, things did not turn out on expected notes.

Gambhir could guide the team to just one win in six matches. The southpaw also failed to lead his side from the front, scoring just 85 runs in those matches.

However, no one had expected him to step down. But the veteran batsman sprung a huge surprise by stepping down as captain for the betterment of the team.

Gambhir was replaced by Shreyas Iyer. The team’s fortunes did not change by leaps and bounds under Iyer but there was an improvement. Under Iyer, the team won four games with the last one coming on Sunday.

The Daredevils beat defending champions Mumbai Indians by 11 runs to end their season on a good note.

Speaking after the game, Ricky Ponting said Gambhir’s decision did not hurt the team’s chances. At the same time, he admitted that the decision had taken aback the whole team.

“Gautam’s stepping down didn’t have any negative impact on our team. It probably came as a shock to the players and me. It was a courageous decision, you don’t see such a decision everyday. It gave an opportunity to Prithvi Shaw to play and Shreyas stepped up for the captaincy,” said Ponting.

“It was a daunting thing to do to captain and I think he handled the challenge well. He is a tremendous young guy and I won’t be surprised if I see more leadership role for him in future,” he added.