Xtra Time Web Desk: Rajasthan Royals Head Coach Ricky Ponting is never shy of showing his emotions. The Tasmanian was ecstatic to see his boys get past Rajasthan Royals by a narrow margin of 13 runs at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday night. Ponting would want to see his boys carry on the momentum in the second half of the ongoing IPL 2020.
Speaking ahead of his team’s next match which takes place on Saturday against Chennai Super Kings, Ponting said, “I do tend to get a little bit emotional in the dugout. I think the main reason I get emotional is because I care so much about the results for this team. We put in a lot of hard work, and you know, all that planning and preparation comes down to what the boys do on match day, so I do get pretty heavily involved – but last time (against RR) more so because we started the game really poorly – lost a wicket off the first ball and Jinks (Ajinkya Rahane) got out soon after.”
The former Australian captain also spoke about his team’s chances of making it to the Playoffs. “Yes, things are looking good at this stage of the season, but I’m never the one to try and look too far ahead because I know how quickly the IPL can turn around. We’ve seen teams in the past have six wins from their first six games, and then not go on to make the playoffs. So we’ll keep a lid on things, and I still think we’re six wins from eight games, but probably haven’t played our best cricket yet either,” he expressed.
Commenting on what he makes of the challenge that Chennai will throw at his side, Ponting said they won’t be taking the 3-time champions lightly. “We’ve played every team once and Rajasthan twice now, and Chennai also the second time now. Look, you can’t take anyone for granted in this tournament. They’ve been proven performers – they’ve probably been the best team in the IPL since day 1, so when you’ve got guys like Watson, Dhoni, Jadeja and Faf in the side, you can’t take them lightly,” said the DC Head Coach.