Delhi Capitals' (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting has thrown his weight behind Prithvi Shaw and has made a tall claim about India's batting sensation. Prithvi will look to keep his controversial-figure behind and go all guns blazing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 which is set to kick off from March 31.
Ponting while speaking about Prithvi's preparation about the IPL 2023 claimed that the sixteenth edition of the glitzy league will be his biggest season ever.
“He has worked hard, trained better than I have ever seen. He is a better physical shape than I have seen him before. I spoke with him about his attitude, how he is working and the way things are going,” Ponting said on Friday during a promotional event at a city hotel.
“I honestly feel this is going to be his biggest season ever in the IPL. He just has that different look in his eyes this year and he probably hungry than ever. Yes, its true he has some success for us at Delhi Capitals and with the level of talent he has got, I think everyone will get to see the real Prithvi Shaw this year,” added the former Australian skipper.
Prithvi's recent heroics with the bat saw him belting 379 off 383 for Mumbai against Assam in the Ranji Trophy which garnered enough eyeballs.
But few days after his batting blitz the 2018 India U-19 World Cup-winning Indian skipper was embroiled in a controversial incident where he along with his friend was attacked by a group of fans for apparently refusing to take selfie.
Ponting well understands that cricketers have to deal with some off-field issues as he himself experienced some during his playing days. Ponting said, “It’s all about staying true to yourself and be the best you can be. The one thing that I tell all the players is that I don’t like laziness and I don’t like guys not utilising the time that they have got. If I see the guys are not working hard as they should, then its my job to try and change that."
Prithvi linked up with Delhi Capitals' pre-season practice session in Kolkata in the aegis of team's Director of Cricket Sourav Ganguly. Ponting went on to say that Shaw has put in some extra work since linking up with the team's camp.
“It just seems to be that this season, something has clicked for Prithvi, he seems to be in a better space than ever before and he has done extra work since he joined the camp this season. That’s a great sign for us,” Ponting concluded.
IPL 2023 Delhi Capitals Squad
Rishabh Pant (c), David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Ripal Patel, Rovman Powell, Sarfaraz Khan, Yash Dhull, Mitchell Marsh, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Khaleel Ahmed, Lungi Ngidi, Mustafizur Rahman, Aman Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Vicky Ostwal, Ishant Sharma, Phil Salt, Mukesh Kumar, Manish Pandey, Rilee Rossouw.
DC Team 2023: Full schedule
LSG vs DC on April 1 in Lucknow at 7:30 PM IST
DC vs GT on April 4 in Delhi at 7:30 PM IST
RR vs DC on April 8 in Guwahati at 3:30 PM IST)
DC vs MI on April 11 in Delhi at 7:30 PM IST
RCB vs DC on April 15 in Bengaluru at 3:30 PM IST
DC vs KKR on April 20 in Delhi at 7:30 PM IST
SRH vs DC on April 24 in Hyderabad at 7:30 PM IST
DC vs SRH on April 29 in Delhi at 7:30 PM IST
GT vs DC on May 2 in Ahmedabad at 7:30 PM IST
DC vs RCB on May 6 in Delhi at 7:30 PM IST
CSK vs DC on May 10 in Chennai at 7:30 PM IST
DC vs PBKS on May 13 in Delhi at 7:30 PM IST
PBKS vs DC on May 17 in Dharamsala at 7:30 PM IST
DC vs CSK on May 20 in Delhi at 3:30 PM IST
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