Sourav Ganguly has been Director of Cricket at Delhi Capitals for the last two seasons in the Indian Premier League.
New Delhi: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly will take over as Delhi Capitals head coach after the franchise parted ways with Ricky Ponting on Saturday. Although the development of Ganguly taking over hasn’t been confirmed yet, sources close to the developments told India.com that the former India captain is tipped to be the best candidate to take over the reins from Ponting who joined the franchise in 2019. This would be Ganguly’s first tenure as a head coach of any side.
“Sourav Ganguly will take over as head coach (of Delhi Capitals) is what I heard as of now,” the source said on conditions of anonymity. Ponting’s development comes after the Australian failed to guide the side to a single IPL trophy. Although Delhi Capitals reached the 2021 final, their performance in the following years has not matched the promise the team has.
It was also understood that the Delhi Capitals top brass wanted Ponting to be more involved in team building and the auction process, rather than just joining the side a couple of weeks before the start of IPL. Meanwhile, it is believed that the Delhi Capital owners are scheduled to have a meeting either at the end of this month or early next month to discuss the road ahead.
Thank you, Ricky!
pic.twitter.com/D6gt7UbLpW
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) July 13, 2024
The players’ retention is another issue that will be up for discussion and if the number stays at four, then Delhi Capitals will have no option but to let go one among Australia’s Jake-Fraser McGurk or South Africa’s Tristan Stubbs with only one overseas slot available.
As far as the Indian core is concerned, the choices are pretty straight forward — skipper Rishabh Pant, all-rounder Axar Patel and wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav — provided they are ready to be retained. In 2025, there is a mega auction on cards and there is every possibility that a few retainable stars from each franchise would want to be back in auction pool to check their real market rates.
