Didn't seem right in the dugout, says Alyssa Healy on Ponting’s exit as DC coach

New Delhi: Australia women's cricket team captain Alyssa Healy reflected on her compatriot Ricky Ponting’s ouster as head coach of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals, saying that things in the side’s dugout weren’t going right. She added that her observations while travelling in IPL 2024 gave her a feeling that Ponting’s time as DC head coach would come to an end soon, which did happen eventually.

On July 13, Ponting stepped down as head coach, bringing an end to a seven-year association with the franchise, ahead of the mega auction in the run-up to the 2025 season of the tournament.

"Yeah, I did (see it coming), because being over there in India this year, watching it live, from an Indian perspective, it just didn't seem right in the dugout. There was obviously a bit going on, there was tension between the support staff, and maybe the players. Like, Rishabh Pant was in charge and looked quite relaxed, but it just didn't look right," said Alyssa.

Ponting was appointed as DC's head coach in 2018 when the side was called Delhi Daredevils. After failing to enter the IPL playoffs that, DC made it to the business end of the competition in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 seasons.

In 2020, DC made it to an IPL final for the first time but ended up as runners-up to Mumbai Indians in Dubai. But after the 2021 season, DC suffered a slump as they didn’t enter IPL playoffs in 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons. In IPL 2024, DC finished in sixth position, winning and losing seven games each.

“It wasn't a real surprise to me that if you put an international coach against an Indian icon, the international coach would probably part ways. But it's probably opened up a whole avenue for Ricky to look at. Will it be he coaching an international side or really stick to franchise cricket, or do whatever else he wants to do, it has opened up a bit of time for him, which is very interesting,” added Alyssa.

But with a mega auction looming, DC has let go of Ponting, especially after seven seasons of him at the franchise didn’t yield a championship triumph. DC is now in search of a new head coach for the franchise ahead of the mega auctions.