‘Have to back Indian players’ – Mohammad Kaif recalls Sourav Ganguly standing up to Ricky Ponting during Delhi Capitals stint

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has been in the news for his verbal spat with Gautam Gambhir in the last few days. Mohammad Kaif, who has been both an opponent and fellow team management member with Ponting, recalled an interesting episode. He recently revealed how Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting had a clash of ideas during their time together at Delhi Capitals. 

The 43-year-old said, “I think Ponting would himself admit he could have done better because the team we made, me, Ganguly...you won't believe there were times we could think whom should we drop. There was no place for Ajinkya Rahane, Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, even Hetmyer.”

India’s former star also said, “Then when we went to the auction. This was Ganguly who decided and I must praise him for that. He said we have to back the Indian players. He talked to Shikhar Dhawan, after which that trade had happened with Hyderabad.”

Sourav Ganguly pushed hard for Shikhar Dhawan’s Delhi return

Ricky Ponting joined as the Delhi Capitals coach in 2018. The former Australian skipper had coached Mumbai Indians for three years and had won the title in 2015. This was followed by a short stint as the coach of Australia before taking over the reins in 2018. Mohammad Kaif was the assistant coach while Sourav Ganguly joined in 2019. 

Delhi Capitals decided to part ways with Ponting, who has now taken over as the coach of Punjab Kings. Recalling an incident, Kaif said that Shikhar Dhawan’s return to Delhi Capitals was down to the persistence of Sourav Ganguly. 

“Now we were stuck still thinking if we should make the trade, and it was Ganguly who convinced us that we needed him. Ponting did not agree. He felt his career was over because it was right when he was dropped from the Test team. In fact, this thing was highlighted in the meeting that Dhawan is a trusted player who can score 500 runs in a season,” said Mohammad Kaif. 

The former India batter also added, “David Warner was in Hyderabad, and I feel he must have influenced Ponting against going with Dhawan. I feel he must have told Ponting that he no longer remains a great player. But Ganguly and Parth Jindal backed Dhawan and traded him, and the India batter proved us right because we had reached the final that season where he scored a lot of runs. So I feel Ponting might have regretted that he would have done better because they did not win a trophy in those seven years. In fact, Ganguly should be credited for bringing Ashwin to the team as well.”