As the incident unfolded, Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting admitted he and bowling coach James Hopes were discussing Rishabh Pant’s denied singles in the last over.
Pant scored an undefeated 51 from 35 deliveries. In the final over of DC’s innings, bowled by Shardul Thakur, he declined to take singles. Only eight runs came off the over as DC batted first and went 172 for 5.
In a dramatic match decided in the penultimate over, CSK chased down the target with four wickets in hand.
When asked about Pant’s strategies, Ponting stated that they were discussed in the dugout. He, on the other hand, backed up the youth, saying that as the leader, it was up to him to make the key decisions.
“We were talking about that as it happened actually (Pant refusing singles). After the first run that he didn’t take, the bowling coach James Hopes looked at me and said, ‘I think we should be taking every run that we get now.’ I said let’s wait till the end of the over and we will make a judgment on it then,” Ponting said
Pant opted to assume full responsibility for scoring runs in the last over because Tom Curran was new to the crease, according to the DC coach.
Tom Curran
“I think Rishabh’s going to back himself more often than not. Tom Curran had only faced one or two balls since he had been at the crease. He was probably going to find it harder to find the boundaries. Rishabh is the captain and he is out there making decisions on the run. That was the decision that he made tonight,” Ponting added.
DC collapsed to 80 for 4 after a blistering start by opener Prithvi Shaw (60 off 34). They crossed the 170 mark thanks to excellent knocks from Pant and Shimron Hetmyer (37 off 24).
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