'Harder on players with much more travel' Ricky Ponting relishes the return of home and away matches

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting is excited about IPL 2023 moving back to the regular home-and-away format after three seasons of COVID-19 disruption. But at the same time, he admitted that it will be hard on players with a lot of travel involved. In IPL 2023, the Delhi Capitals will be constantly on the move. In their schedule for the league stage, a pattern has emerged: they play one match away, then one game at home, and then travel for the next away game.

Home and away games will make this season exciting

"It'll be harder on the players with much more travel in this IPL. But this is part and parcel of franchise cricket. I think more traveling makes the tournament more exciting. We'll get to play in a lot of different venues and in front of many different groups of fans," Ponting said in a media release issued by the franchise.

Pant to remain involved in some capacity

In the absence of Rishabh Pant, who has been ruled out following a near fatal car accident last year, David Warner, who led Sunrisers Hyderabad to IPL 2016 title, will be Delhi's skipper. Ponting stated that he would like to have Pant in some capacity during the season and expressed confidence in Warner's leadership skills.

"I have spoken to Rishabh a bit. We are hoping to get him involved this season. I'd love to have him at all our home games. Having him in our dugout or our changing room will be very special. However, David Warner will do a great job. He has been a successful franchise cricket captain in the past. He's excited to lead the team as well," he said.

Ganguly's input valuable

The Australian also spoke about working with former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is the director of cricket of the side.

"I have spoken to Sourav about the players we've got, possible line-ups, possible keepers and things like that. He has always got some good things to say to the players during training. It was a lot of fun to work with him in 2019 and we won a lot of games," said Ponting.

Delhi Capitals will open their IPL 2023 campaign against KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants on April 1 at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.