New Delhi, March 22
Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings will look to end their 18-year wait for an Indian Premier League title as the new season begins on March 28 and the former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan, who has played for both franchises in the past, shared his experience and the possible reasons why both sides have remained trophy-less so far.
Speaking on JioStar, Irfan Pathan spoke about the challenge DC faced with identifying talent during the early 2010s.
Pathan said, "I was with Punjab and Delhi for three years each. When I was in Delhi, Eric Simmons, who is now with CSK as the bowling coach, was the coach, and there was an effort to bring stability. But when you let go of players like AB de Villiers, and you have Andre Russell, starting from scratch is not easy. I played alongside Russell in the same dressing room, and there were a lot of discussions about giving him more opportunities, but they just couldn't find a place for him consistently in the XI. So, identification of talent is very important, and I feel Delhi used to fall short in that area."
Punjab Kings made some big changes before the IPL 2025 by bringing the Australian legend Ricky Ponting as head coach and acquiring Shreyas Iyer for a big amount of Rs 26.75 crore in the auction. They went on to play well throughout the tournament, but lost the final against the RCB.
On how leadership has made a key difference for Punjab Kings from IPL 2025 onwards, Pathan said, "Leadership has played a huge role in Punjab's turnaround. You win half the IPL at the auction table. Big purses don't necessarily mean you will always get what you want, but they did, and they reached the final. Even in the mini-auction, they took bold but important calls, like letting go of players who were not performing, such as Glenn Maxwell."
Giving the example of Josh Inglis, Pathan said, "They were a bit unfortunate with the Josh Inglis situation, given he would miss most of the season, but then you see another team going after him for a huge price. In that respect, they are making a lot of the right decisions."
Pathan also stressed that the Punjab Kings have invested heavily in the backup players as well.
"Look at the backup players. In the past, Punjab struggled with that when the focus was entirely on building the first XI, but now you see all-rounders like Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen and Marcus Stoinis, along with a young Indian batting core. Apart from that, they went all-out for Shreyas Iyer after deciding he would be the Captain. So, there is clarity of thought, and I feel Punjab have started to move in the right direction," he concluded.
- ANI
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