“There is no coach like him”: Mandeep Singh eagerly waiting to work with Ricky Ponting at Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022

Mandeep Singh: The Indian batter will play for his fourth Indian Premier League franchise in Delhi Capitals this season.

Delhi Capitals will be India batter Mandeep Singh’s fourth Indian Premier League franchise. Bought for INR 1.1 crore during the mega auction held in Bengaluru last month, Mandeep was among the 20 auction buys for the franchise.

Having made his IPL debut for Kolkata Knight Riders 12 years ago, Mandeep has represented Punjab Kings (twice) and Royal Challengers Bangalore. “Obviously, this is my first season with Delhi. So, the vibe around is really positive. It’s a very young team and already everyone is gelling along well with each other,” Mandeep said in a video posted across Capitals’ social media handles.

Despite playing for a new franchise, Mandeep pointed out how the setup isn’t very new. While the 30-year old player reminisced about playing alongside the likes of DC captain Rishabh Pant and all-rounders Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur in the past, one can’t ignore his camaraderie with uncapped Sarfaraz Khan either.

For the unversed, Mandeep and Sarfaraz have been playing for the same IPL team since the 2015 season. “Sarfaraz [Khan] is there along here too, someone whom I have played together with for the last eight [seven] years,” Mandeep added.

“I have played alongside Rishabh [Pant] when he made his [T20I] debut. I wasn’t part of that series [Playing XI] but he was. So yeah, we have played together before. Axar [Patel] is also someone whom I have played with, same with Shardul [Thakur]. As you rightly pointed, the setup isn’t very new to me.”

Mandeep Singh eagerly awaiting to work with Ricky Ponting in IPL 2022

Mandeep, who had made his IPL debut under former India captain Sourav Ganguly, has played under the likes of Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli over the years. While another Indian legend in Anil Kumble was Mandeep’s head coach at Punjab lately, the right-hand batter is “eagerly waiting” to train under former Australia captain Ricky Ponting at Capitals.

“I’m keenly looking forward to working with [head coach] Ricky Ponting. He is one of the legends of the game. That is one thing I am eagerly waiting for. All in all, I think it will be a very enjoyable season to play with this team,” Mandeep mentioned.

Mandeep, who was wax lyrical about Ponting, admitted to not have watched any of Ponting’s famous IPL speeches videos but shared how he has heard from other players that “there is no coach like him”.

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“No, I haven’t seen the videos but have heard a lot of people say that there is no coach like him. He is someone who maintains a healthy team atmosphere and as you said after the game be it victory or loss, he makes sure that the vibe is always positive around him,” Mandeep concluded.

In 92 IPL innings, Mandeep has scored 1,674 runs at an average and strike rate of 22.03 and 124.09 respectively including six half-centuries. Mandeep had played his career-best IPL knock (77*) in a match-winning 128-run partnership for the fourth wicket alongside David Miller (80*) during a PBKS (then KXIP) vs PWI match in Mohali nine years ago.