DC vs RR: Prithvi Shaw on Ricky Ponting’s influence in Delhi Capitals - When the boss is not here you can feel a bit different
India Today
Ponting wasn't a part of the Delhi Capitals' (DC) setup for the game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) as one of his family members tested positive for COVID-19.
Delhi Capitals’ (DC) batter Prithvi Shaw talked about the influence Ricky Ponting has had on the team over the years. Ponting wasn’t a part of the Capitals’ setup for the match against Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Friday, April 22 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai after one of his family members tested positive for COVID-19.
Ponting’s family member was staying in the team hotel and the veteran was deemed as one of the close contacts. The DC coach is currently on a five-day isolation period. Shaw, who has been part of the Delhi-based franchise since 2018, said despite staying away from the team, Ponting has sent his input for the match against the Royals.
Shaw referred to Ponting as the “boss” of the team and talked about how the former Australian skipper leads from the front.
“Everything is okay. Obviously, a lot of hectic things are going on in the rooms and in the hotel itself, everything is fine now. Ricky is not coming but he did message us on how we are going to approach this game and all this Covid stuff is going in your head. You're mentally prepared for it (the game) and have to focus on the on-field stuff," Shaw said.
“He's (Ponting) the boss of the team and when the boss is not here you can feel a bit different. But we have other coaches here and they understand these things, we will be fine playing under them. It all depends on my mood before the match day. If I want to have a hit or not, Ricky Sir always asks us what we want to do."
“When I am scoring runs I don't really like to bat and don't want to get worse in the nets. The boss is watching from the hotel room and I hope we don't disappoint him,” he added.
As far as Shaw is concerned, after DC’s first six matches, he was the leading run-scorer for the franchise in the ongoing season. The right-hander scored 217 runs from six games at an average of 36.16 and a strike rate of 170.86 with two half-centuries to his name. His top score of 61 came against KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants.
