Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting opened up on helping Ashok Dinda to get in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team in the IPL 2008. Ponting played for KKR under Sourav Ganguly in the inaugural season of the IPL.
Ricky Ponting Praises Ashok Dinda
Dinda didn’t have any experience of playing white-ball cricket as he had played a few First-Class matches for state team Bengal.
Dinda was roped in by KKR as a net bowler but his pace was something that allured the former Australian skipper, who managed to get him in KKR’s playing XI for the first match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
As KKR set RCB a gigantic score of 223 to chase in the first match of IPL 2008, Dinda picked the early wickets of Wasim Jaffer and Virat Kohli to finish 2/9 from three overs as KKR won by 140 runs.
Ponting, who played four matches for KKR that season, mentioned how he helped Dinda into the team.
“Ashok Dinda was a net bowler for us at Kolkata, and for 7-10 days, he literally ran in and bowled bouncers at all of us for every session. And I ended up saying to John Buchanan (then head coach of KKR) that ‘there is something about this guy, let’s give him a contract’,” Ponting said in a video posted on Delhi Capitals’ YouTube channel.
“And he ended up getting one. I think he took maybe the first three wickets as well of the IPL, and that was the start of what ended up being the 12 or 13-year career for Ashok Dinda in the IPL,” he added.
Ponting on Brendon McCullum
The former Australia captain also recollected memories from KKR’s season opener against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, which was the inaugural game of the cash-rich event. He also opened up about Brendon McCullum’s fiery knock of 158*(73).
“We didn’t really know about the tempo of the game or what the score was going to be. Brendon was opening the batting, and I was batting at three and got off to an unbelievable start.
It seemed like everything he hit had just flew off the bat. I was trying to slow him down a little bit, and he was going harder and harder and ended up playing incredible innings. What better than seeing the first game of the tournament than someone going out there and getting 158,” Ponting said.
Both McCullum and Ponting have now taken up coaching roles with different franchises in the IPL. While McCullum continues his storied association with KKR as their head coach, Ponting is the head coach of Delhi Capitals.
