'We could have easily won both our first games' - Ricky Ponting on Delhi Capitals' performance in IPL 2024

As the IPL season unfolds, Delhi Capitals find themselves at a crossroads after facing early setbacks in their campaign. With losses against Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals, questions loomed over their consistency.

However, head coach Ricky Ponting stays optimistic, believing in the team's potential to bounce back. In a pre-match briefing before facing Chennai Super Kings, he emphasized the need for consistent performance, aiming to balance between their best and worst cricket over 40 overs.

"We had a couple of chats about our cricket and the consensus out of those meetings is that we have played some really good and bad cricket. So, we need to find somewhere in the middle where we can play consistently good cricket over 40 overs," Ponting said on Saturday in his pre-match press meet, as quoted by Times of India.

Reflecting on the previous matches, Ponting noted missed chances in past games, saying they could've won both. Despite setbacks, he's optimistic, stressing the importance of sustained excellence throughout matches.

"We could have easily won both our first games, with Ishant going down in the first game didn't really help and the other day we went for a few more runs in the bowling innings of that match. However, we are very confident that we're going to be able to turn things around against a good CSK team, but it's just a matter of us playing our best cricket for 40 overs," he added.

I'm pretty sure we'll have a more positive intent going into the game: Ponting

Ponting stressed a more assertive approach, highlighting the significance of a positive mindset for success saying, "It's not a short tournament, it's quite a long tournament, but by saying that, you would prefer to get off to a good start than get off to a slow start. We have still got 12 games to play."

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"I'm pretty sure we'll have a more positive intent going into this game, we'll be a lot more aggressive in this game than we've been in the first couple of games, and I think if we take the right attitude into this game then we can definitely win."

Addressing the venue, Ponting highlighted Visakhapatnam's significance as their "second home" for the tournament, emphasizing the team's determination to secure victories on familiar turf.

"This is our second home for this tournament, this is not a neutral venue by any chance. We have got our first two games here and we want to make sure that this is a place that we can win," Ponting concluded.