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The prestigious Indian Premier League (IPL) completed 14 years on Monday, April 18. The Covid-hit Delhi Capitals (DC) compiled a complete set of anecdotes on the first season and the first game as veteran cricketers who are in their coaching staff, such as Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting, and Ajit Agarkar recalled their stories from the inaugural 2008 season.
Former Australia captain Ponting was picked by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the first season. The batter recalled his partnership with New Zealand's Brendon McCullum in that iconic season opener, before naming an Indian bowler that impressed him in the KKR nets.
Talking to DC's media team, Ponting named Ashok Dinda as the bowler that caught his attention. Dinda, who was still an uncapped player, was a net bowler for the franchise before Ponting convinced KKR coach John Buchanan to give him a contract. "Ashok Dinda was a net bowler for us at Kolkata, and for 7-10 days, he ran in and bowled bouncers at all of us for every session. And I ended up saying to John Buchanan that 'there is something about this guy, let's give him a contract.'
"He ended up getting one... And that was the start of what ended up being the 12 or 13-year career for Ashok Dinda in the IPL," recalled Ponting.
Dinda picked up nine wickets in that season at an economy rate of 6.66. He eventually left KKR to join the erstwhile Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2011. He also played for Pune Warriors India between 2012 and 2013, Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014 and 2015, and Rising Pune Supergiant between 2016 and 2017. Dinda finished his IPL career with 68 wickets with an economy rate of 8.23 in 78 matches.
Ponting also talked about McCullum's knock and how he tried to slow him down, but the New Zealand batter kept clobbering boundaries and sixes.
"We didn't know about the tempo of the game or what the score was going to be. Brendon was opening the batting, and I was batting at three and got off to an unbelievable start. It seemed like everything he hit had just flown off the bat. I was trying to slow him down a little bit, and he was going harder and harder and ended up playing an incredible inning. What better than seeing the first game of the tournament than someone going out there and getting 158," he said.
