Harpal Singh Bedi
Admitting that long breaks do impact the team’s momentum, Delhi Capitals assistant coach Ajay Ratra feels that his team has sufficient time to get back into the rhythm which it had in the first half of the IPL.
Delhi Capitals had a great run in the first half of the IPL 2021. With six wins and two losses from eight matches, Delhi is currently on the top of the points table.
The final phase of the IPL is scheduled to begin on 19 September in UAE. Delhi Capitals will face the Sunrisers Hyderabad on 22 September
Ajay Ratra, who is overlooking the team’s pre-season camp along with Assistant Coach Pravin Amre, at the ICC Academy in Dubai, maintains that his team has sufficient time to get back into the rhythm for the second half of the tournament.
“It’s a different season altogether, generally it happens in full flow, and we had good momentum in the first half. Now that it’s happening after a break, so we will have to start afresh, and that’s why our franchise has organized this camp a little early.” Ajay was quoted as saying by Delhi Capitals in a release from Dubai.
We do have sufficient time to get back into the rhythm we had in the first half of the competition, and fortunately, most of our players have been playing international cricket,”
Asked whether the long gap will break the team’s momentum, Ratra opined, “Even in Test cricket, sometimes it becomes difficult to find the rhythm after lunch breaks. So, breaks do make a difference.”
“However, as I said before, we still have time, and most of our core players are playing international cricket, so they might be already in a good rhythm. Whereas, those who are coming from a long break, are utilising this camp.
‘We have been spending more time with our domestic players, and there are good facilities here, so we will hopefully find our rhythm soon,” he added.
He said the coaching staff is in touch with Head Coach Ricky Ponting and Bowling Coach James Hopes, who is yet to join the team,
“Yes, we have been in touch with Ricky and Hopes. We do zoom calls with Delhi Capitals management regularly, and everyone from the coaching staff attends it, including our strength and conditioning Coach Rajinikanth Sivagnanam, Physios Dhananjay Kaushik, and Patrick Farhart.”
“We usually discuss the kind of practice regimes we need to set. Also, when this camp started Pravin Bhai (Pravin Amre) presented the whole plan to Ricky and all the other coaches. Similarly, I shared fielding plans for this camp with everyone,” Ajay added