'The language is a barrier for young players' - Sunil Gavaskar slams Ricky Ponting for failing as coach of Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023

Delhi Capitals (DC), prior to Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season were handed a major blow as their captain Rishabh Pant was ruled out of the competition after he suffered a horrific car accident last year in December. They finished in 9th place in the points table as they got only 10 points after playing 14 matches. Australian star batter David Warner was leading DC in the absence of Pant and failed horribly to lead the team well.

DC had a star-studded coaching strength as legendary players like Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly, and Shane Watson were there to guide the players but despite this DC had a forgettable season. Meanwhile, former legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that DC's young cricketers failed to do anything special for the franchise as there was a language barrier between them and the head coach Ponting.

“What might have looked like an easy-to-rectify problem during their playing days is not conveyed in the same facile way they solved it themselves. Often, the language is a barrier for a young, budding Indian player who comes from the interiors and may not be conversant in English to understand. 

That probably explains why players like Yash Dhull, Priyam Garg, and Sarfaraz Khan, to name just three, have made little or no progress. Prithvi Shaw has also not been able to come to terms with the delivery around the ribcage, and the result has been a shortage of runs from some of the most promising and prolific young players in the country," Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Gavaskar slammed DC for not promoting Axar Patel 

Gavaskar was also furious at DC’s coaching staff for not promoting their star allrounder Axar Patel to bat higher up the order despite being in brilliant form. Axar played 14 matches this season and scored 283 runs at an average of 28.30 with an outstanding strike rate of 139.41. He also picked 11 wickets as well.

"Then there was the stubborn, almost defiant refusal to promote the in-form Axar Patel up the batting order. It prompted Ravi Shastri, who had coached the Indian team until last year and seen the batting ability that Axar has, to question if there was something in the contract that said Patel wouldn’t bat above number 7 in the batting order". Gavaskar said.