Capitals’ punishment puts heat on Punter

Forget David Warner, Delhi’s disastrous season could see another Australian cricket legend in the firing line.

Mitchell Marsh hit six sixes in his innings for Delhi Capitals Picture: AFP

Australian eyes have been fixed firmly on David Warner’s form in this IPL season but it is his coach Ricky Ponting who is under the most pressure.

The Australians’ Delhi franchise is sitting on the bottom of the table after its sixth loss from eight games and seems to have few options, with star Rishabh Pant unavailable and opener Prithvi Shaw in such bad form he has been dropped.

Warner, whose place in the Test side is under question ahead of the England campaign, has kept the wolf from the door with four half-centuries, but he made a duck in the loss to Hyderabad on the weekend.

Fellow Australian Mitch Marsh became just the fifth player in IPL history to score a half-century and take four wickets in a match, but it was not enough to get Delhi over the line.

“Took me a few games to get going, but a disappointing loss,” Marsh said.

“We’ve been on the wrong end of a few (close matches) but we do feel there is a long way to go in this tournament. There’s a reason why the IPL is the best tournament in the world. It’s bloody hard to win games.

“Close games can define your season. Unfortunately, we’ve been on the wrong end of a few, but our spirits are high.

“We need to start winning, but I hold a lot of belief in this group.”

Marsh, who is essentially on standby for Cameron Green for Australia’s six Tests in the UK this winter – the World Test Championship final against India followed by five Ashes matches – hit six sixes on his way to a 39-ball 63 in Delhi’s run chase.

“Mitch bowled fantastic through the middle overs and was our best bowler, but coming up nine runs short is pretty disappointing,” Warner said.

Ponting, one of the highest-paid coaches in the league, must be hoping franchise owners keep faith with him given the poor return this season. The loss of Pant, who was injured in a car accident, was a major blow to the side and Shaw’s form a disappointment.

Delhi were outbid for Green’s services by Mumbai, who forked out $3.15m for the exciting young all-rounder.

Manpower is one thing, but commentators, however, are questioning the decision by Ponting to bat all-rounder Axar Patel so far down the order for much of the year, including in the nine-run loss to Hyderabad.

Warner knows exactly how ruthless IPL franchises can be after his experience at Hyderabad in 2021. The opener was axed as captain of Hyderabad and dropped in the second half of the season after that franchise found itself on the wrong side of a 6-1 win-loss ratio.

The move was extraordinary given Warner was the long-term captain, consistently their leading run scorer and was the most high profile and popular player at the franchise.

Ponting is one of the most respected figures in cricket and ­renowned for his tactical knowledge of the game, but in the cutthroat IPL – as Warner has experienced – reputations count for little. Shaw’s poor form has cost the franchise dearly and Ponting was blunt in his explanation for the star’s axing.

“It just came to the point, where yes, it was six games this season, but I think it was six or seven games at the back end of last season as well,” Ponting said on the eve of Capitals’ return fixture against Sunrisers.

“I think it’s 13 (12) games since Prithvi has made a fifty opening the batting for the Delhi Capitals, which, if you look throughout the tournament, there are a lot of other players at the top of the order with other teams that are playing a whole lot better than Prithvi.

“When guys are not performing, or even when they are performing, it’s my job to have good, honest, open, adult conversations with all the players, and nothing’s different with Prithvi. I talk the same way to him as I talk to any guys that are scoring runs.”

Meanwhile some Australian squad members are warming up in a more traditional manner. Steve Smith has arrived in the UK and will play the first of three games for Sussex before the WTC final. His final game for the county before joining the Australian squad will be against his friend and teammate Marnus Labuschagne, who is at Glamorgan.