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The equation for Delhi Capitals (DC) was simple — beat 10th-placed Mumbai Indians (MI) and make it to the playoffs. But they faltered in the final steps and succumbed to a five-wicket loss in their final league game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season. However, DC coach Ricky Ponting has backed Rishabh Pant after the young skipper's strategic mistake cost his team a place in the playoff.
Chasing a total of 160, Mumbai were 95 for 3 in 14.3 overs with Tim David on strike. The Singaporean seemingly nicked the first ball of his innings but the umpire didn't give him out. Pant did not take DRS after a discussion with his teammates, but the decision came back to haunt DC as David slammed 34 runs off just 11 balls with the help of two boundaries and four sixes to take the game out of DC's hands.
"Absolutely, no doubt in my mind that Rishabh, even in the last season, was the right choice for captain. Rishabh did a terrific job with the team after he took over from Shreyas (Iyer) after he injured his shoulders,'' Ponting said during the press conference after their loss.
''...he is just a young man and still learning captaincy. Being captain of a T20 team, especially in IPL, which is a high-pressure tournament, is not easy thing to do and unfortunately, every single thing you do will be scrutinised. He certainly got my full backing.''
During the game, Pant also missed a sitter which would have dismissed MI batter Dewald Brevis. The DC wicketkeeper positioned himself well after Brevis top-edged a Kuldeep Yadav delivery but the ball fell out of his gloves. Brevis was on 25 when he was dropped, before hitting 12 more runs and getting out.
After the game, Ponting said he was ''gutted'' to see the match slip away but did not blame Pant for the loss.
'It is always hard to put a finger on one single aspect of the game. Top of the order our batting was poor, we were four down for 40, which is not the ideal way to start a T20 game, especially big games which you have to win,'' he said.
''Obviously, Tim David played well. He was probably out the first ball but there are so many aspects of the game we will be disappointed with. The players need to learn from games like that. I feel pretty gutted that the game slipped out of our hands, we didn't close out the match in the last few overs,'' Ponting added.
Rival MI skipper Rohit Sharma also threw his weight behind Pant, saying such fumbles happen on the cricket field and he will come out stronger from the experience.
''He is a quality captain, we have seen it in the past season how he leads his team. Sometimes things don't go your way, I have gone through such situations, such things happen on the ground, sometimes things don't pan out your way. 'He can take a lot of learning and try and keep things simple, he has a great mind, he reads the game well from behind, and such fumbles can happen and it is important to not doubt yourself. He will come back strong,'' he said.
