IPL 2021: Delhi Capitals’ head coach Ricky Ponting to not travel to Chennai for the auction; Mohammad Kaif and Pravin Amre to lead

All eyes are on tomorrow’s auction for the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which is set to take place in Chennai. The franchises will be represented by their coaching staff and owners at the auction table. However, for Delhi Capitals (DC), Australian head coach Ricky Ponting won’t be present. The side will be led at the auction table by assistant coaches Mohammad Kaif and Pravin Amre instead.

Delhi Capitals had a more than decent season last year as they finished as runner-up after a terrific league stage campaign that saw them finish second. Their bowling attack led by Proteas pacers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje was breathtaking while the spin attack was equally competent as well. The batting led by Shikhar Dhawan flourished throughout the season as well to make it a successful one. The side will be looking to go one better this season around.

Chairman and owner of the franchise to also be present

According to Insidesport, a source close to the Delhi Capitals confirmed that Ponting won’t be present. The source reportedly said, “Ricky (Ponting) and Shreyas Iyer will not be going to Chennai. Instead, Kaif and Amre will be part of team management. Besides them, the chairman, owner and analysts will be travelling to Chennai.”

Delhi Capitals released just six players ahead of the auctions and chose to retain a huge chunk of their squad. They now have only 8 available slots out of which 3 are overseas. They will start with a purse of just Rs. 13.4 crores tomorrow which means they won’t be able to splash big money on players.

Retained Players: Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Prithvi Shaw, R Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Daniel Sams, Pravin Dubey, Chris Woakes

Also Read: IPL 2021: MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming to miss the auction in Chennai