Ricky Ponting, head coach of the Delhi Capitals, indicated before the 16th season of the Indian Premier League that the Rajasthan Royals had assembled an outstanding team and would be among the favorites to win this year. Incidentally, the team led by Sanju Samson qualified for the finals of the league in 2022 but unfortunately lost by seven wickets to the Gujarat Titans.
In regard to the reigning champions, the former Australian captain praised the Hardik Pandya-led squad for an outstanding season last year. To return to the Royals, the 48-year-old noted that it is now tough to forecast who will finish well, but he feels that Rajasthan will be among the top teams.
“This is a difficult issue to answer, as teams rarely dominate the IPL from start to finish. Clearly, Gujarat (Titans) were fantastic, brand-new, and able to win the tournament last year. I believe that the other finalist from the previous season, the Rajasthan Royals, has a tremendously strong group. Last year, shortly following the auction, we remarked on how impressed we were with their ability to assemble a strong team.
This year, they have merely built upon that foundation. I believe Rajasthan will be almost there. It is difficult to predict who will win and difficult to appraise the outcome. Whoever seizes the occasion will more often than not prevail. In the most recent edition of the ICC Review, Ponting stated, “If I look at the squads, Rajasthan has as good a squad as anyone.”
Ricky Ponting provides context for the Impact Player rule.
The former cricketer also discussed the tournament’s implementation of the Impact Player rule. Ponting noted that it is a great concept that will provide them with a great deal of work once the matches begin.
“Let’s wait and see. It’s a clever concept that will give the coaches far more work once the game begins. Once the game has begun, there is typically nothing a coach can do to influence the outcome of the game. But in this case, I believe there are enormous opportunities to impact the game strategically,” he continued.
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