“Attacking batting’s going to win this IPL”: DC coach Ponting makes bold claim about title

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], April 17 (ANI): Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting believes that the team that plays more “attacking batting” will win the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 title.

This season has been one for batters; in 31 matches, teams have managed to put up a score of 200 or more in nine games.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have broken the record for the highest score in the IPL twice this season. They posted 277/3 against the Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad, surpassing Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s total of 263/5, which was set in 2013 with the help of Chris Gayle’s 175*.

Then they went on to break their record against Royal Challengers Bengaluru by setting a thumping score of 287/3 in Bengaluru.

Ahead of the game, Ponting expressed his views about the team, which is willing to put more runs on the board rather than bowl defensively and will win the title.

“Looks like that’s where the game is going to go. Sunrisers [Hyderabad, SRH] are obviously responsible for a couple of those [big scores]. KKR got 260-odd [272 for 7] against us. I think the impact player is having a big effect on the way teams are batting. You watched the way Travis [Head] batted last night. You can’t bat that way unless you’ve got confidence in the players underneath you and you bat deep in your batting order as well,” Ponting said at his pre-match press conference.

“Quite often, big tournaments like the IPL and the Big Bash back in Australia have been won by the best defensive bowling teams. But the way this IPL is going – and [with] the different rules in the IPL – it looks like it will be won by the team that’s most willing to take on the bowling, and try and post some really big scores. I think it’s potentially more attacking batting that’s going to win this IPL than defensive bowling,” he added.

As teams continue to pile up runs on the board, DC have struggled to follow the same pathway and are in the ninth spot before their clash against the Gujarat Titans on Wednesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.