IPL 2022: Ricky Ponting admits to breaking remote controls in his hotel room as no-ball saga unfolded

Mumbai, April 27: As Delhi Capitals gear up to lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders in their next IPL 2022 fixture, the Rishabh Pant-led side would be looking to keep the disappointments and controversies from the last game behind and start afresh.

The no-ball controversy and the subsequent sanctions put on captain Pant, all-rounder Shardul Thakur and assistant coach Pravin Amre disappointed everyone. Even the team's head coach Ricky Ponting couldn't control his emotions and claimed to have broken some remote controls and a few water bottles in frustration as he watched the drama unfold in front of his television screen.

Sharing his experience of watching the team's previous match from quarantine, Ponting said, "It was frustrating. I think I broke three or four remote controls and a few bottles of water might have got thrown into the walls and things like that (laughs). When you're on the sidelines, being a coach and you can't control what's happening out in the middle, that's hard enough, but when you're not actually at the ground, it can get a little more frustrating."

Ponting has re-joined the team after completing his precautionary five-day room isolation after a family member had tested positive for COVID-19. He missed the last couple of games and interacted with the players virtually in the interim.

At halfway through the tournament, Delhi Capitals are placed seventh in the points table in the ongoing IPL 2022 with four defeats and three wins in the tournament.

The franchise hasn't yet delivered to its potential and while reflecting on DC's performance so far head coach Ricky Ponting said the results do not show how good his team is.

"I've said it a few times this year where there are 36 or 37 overs of really good stuff, and we just let it slip for two or three overs. And, that's the difference in these games. We sort of gear ourselves to not overtrain in the first part of the season, try and build up along the way. But our performances have been win one, lose one, win one. So, we need to start getting that little bit of momentum," Ponting said.

Speaking about the upcoming second half of the season, Ponting said, "I know we're so close to turning it all around. We've all got to trust, we've got to believe, we've got to stay upbeat and positive. And if we are, things will definitely change for us. "The harder we try from here, the harder it's going to get. We're just going to stay nice and relax and keep repeating things we've been doing. And then results will definitely come our way. We are too good a team for the results not to change."

The former Australia captain is back with the side ahead of Thursday's game against Kolkata Knight Riders and expressed relief after joining the squad. The Delhi Capitals' camp was hit by the pandemic last week as Mitchell Marsh and Tim Seifert along with a couple of support staff members tested positive. The team is now aiming to move forward with the COVID situation in the squad under control.

"I feel pretty relieved to be back outside again, actually after another five days locked in, and obviously missing the game," he said. "Things didn't go well in the game, we had a drama at the end. But, it's nice to be back outside again."

"There's no doubt we've had it tougher than the other teams so far," he said, on the COVID cases in the Delhi Capitals bio-bubble last week. "Hopefully, we throw that COVID stuff now and are on the other side. And it's probably a really good definitive cut-off point - the halftime of the season. We can reassess and readjust and get on with, hopefully, dominating the second half of this tournament."

The Rishabh Pant-led are set to take on Shreyas Iyer's Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium.