IPL 2021: Our Tournament Really Starts Now - Ricky Ponting "Very Confident" Ahead Of Qualifier 1 Clash vs CSK

Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting feels his team will go in with lot of confidence into Qualifier 1 versus Chennai Super Kings (CSK) having beaten them twice in the season.

DC finished at the top of the table with 20 points and have been the favourites for the title this season. The team has worked as a machine with all the players standing up at some point in the tournament.

Ricky Ponting, though, wouldn’t take CSK lightly, saying that MS Dhoni’s team is a “very good side” and one which “we totally respect”. The match will take place on Sunday in Dubai.

“I think we should be very confident. We have beaten them twice in the league games, but as you know, the playoff games are completely different, and our tournament really starts now,” Ricky Ponting said after the loss to RCB on Friday.

“It starts when our players get their recovery done from tonight’s (Friday) game, and then we make sure we get ourselves in the right mindset to take on Chennai. They are also a very good side, they have been level pegging with us right throughout the tournament, who’s gonna finish first and who’s gonna second. So, we totally respect them as a playing group, and them as a franchise,” he added.

Loss to RCB give the boys a chance to reflect: Ricky Ponting

DC would go into the playoffs having suffered a close loss to RCB – KS Bharat hit a six off the last ball to complete the chase. Ricky Ponting, however, reckons the loss has given his players areas for improvement

“It was a disappointing way for the game to end, and for us to lose the way we did, but I am not unhappy about it at all. I actually think, it’s a really good thing because it will give the boys a chance to reflect and think about how we can improve for Sunday’s game, and it’s a short turnaround, so you have to forget about things and start focusing on the next game,” he said.

The Australian asserted that the performances against RCB was indeed better than what they had produced versus CSK and MI, the two matches they had won.

“A lot to like about tonight’s game, even though we have lost. I think it’s a step forward. If you look at the last game (against Chennai Super Kings), it wasn’t a great performance, the Mumbai game wasn’t a great performance either, but we still managed to win those games. If you look at it, we probably have played better tonight than the games we have won, so that’s certainly the way I look at it. It’s not about end results, it’s about the performances we were putting on the board,” the DC head coach believes.

After the DC and CSK game, Royal Challengers Bangalore will meet Kolkata Knight Riders in Eliminator on Monday in Sharjah.

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