Ricky Ponting Reveals Reason Behind Signing Up Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane

The Indian Premier League franchises are doing their best in drafting in their important players for the upcoming season. After an in-depth analysis, every team management has retained and released the players. While IPL 2020 auction is just days away from the start, Delhi Capitals (DC) made two important signings as they purchased the services of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane from Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) respectively ahead of the bidding war in Kolkata on December 19.

It is cognisance of the fact that Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane don’t have the freedom to play all formats other than the red-ball cricket because the team management had drafted in different quality of players for limited-overs set up.

Ricky Ponting reveals why DC roped in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane

Ricky Ponting has revealed why Delhi Capitals have signed up the Indian stalwarts ahead of the upcoming auctions. According to him and team management, the nature of the pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi is what strengthened the case for Rahane and Ashwin to get appointed.

On the addition of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane to the side, Ponting said, “They are the kind of players who are likely to do well on the Kotla wicket, and of course, bring tremendous experience with them.”

“We’ve had several discussions over the last few months, and have put in a lot of time and effort to make sure that we’re well prepared,” Ponting said.

The former Australia skipper also opened up on last season’s playoffs loss to three-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) while also admitting that Delhi had one of its productive seasons in the IPL by far.

“The semi-final loss against Chennai was disappointing of course. But we played some great cricket, and even now, about 7-8 months after the tournament, I feel like there were times when we were the best team in the competition,” he signed off.

Delhi Capitals – The retained players

Indians: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan.

Overseas: Kagiso Rabada, Keemo Paul, Sandeep Lamichhane.

The released players

Indians: Hanuma Vihari, Jalaj Saxena, Manjot Kalra, Ankush Bains, Nathu Singh, Bandaru Ayappa.

Overseas: Chris Morris, Colin Ingram, Colin Munro.

Read More: IPL 2020 Auctions: Date, Venue, Purse Balance Of All Teams And Everything You Need To Know