NEW DELHI: Australian cricket legend
Ricky Ponting
, the head coach of the Delhi Capitals (DC), talked about his son
Fletcher
's passion for the game, how he enjoys playing competitive cricket back home, and how he enjoys practicing with the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, which involves "20-30 throwdowns" from his father.
In an interview with ESPNCricinfo, Ponting, who has been the head coach of the Capitals since 2018, stated that his entire family has supported the team throughout the years and has traveled to India to be with them.
Traveling alongside the team, nine-year-old Fletcher-who Ponting referred to as a "proper cricket tragic"-has participated in some competitive cricket in Melbourne. He hardly ever skips a DC practice, and at the conclusion of each one, he gets to refine his techniques while his father, a multiple World Cup winner, rolls over his arms in support of him. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he would play PlayStation with the players and spend time with them for breakfast and training, which helped him form a close rapport with them.
"Our whole family has just really embraced the Delhi Capitals. We have been coming now for, guess, probably four or five years. They have been able to travel and be with the team. It probably all started to kick in when the whole IPL was in Mumbai [during the Covid-19 pandemic] and we lived in the bubble in the hotel, at the Taj, and for my kids and even Rianna [Ponting's wife] to be able to mix with the players and go and sit in the team room... Fletcher would go and play FIFA with them and sit on the PlayStation all day and have lunch and breakfast with the boys and then go to training," said Ponting.
"He is a proper cricket tragic now. He has just got to the age where he has played a couple of years of competitive cricket back in Melbourne. He just loves the game. He loves the team and gets a chance to hang out with the boys, and the boys look after him well. He's only missed a couple of training sessions since he's been here, but he will sit and watch and then he will just wait for his chance at the end of the day to put his pads on and go and face 20 or 30 throwdowns from me in the nets."
"Fletcher knows very well where he stands when it is cricket training. He gets nothing from me until the last ball is bowled and everyone has exited the net. So he sits and waits and then we go. He will honestly sit there for four hours and ask questions and talk with the boys and just wait for his turn. So he loves it," he concluded.
Even Ponting's daughters, Emmy and Matisse Ellie, are ardent fans of the DC brand and eagerly anticipate their yearly arrival.
"Even when we are at home, they sleep in this stuff [Capitals jerseys]. This is their pyjamas. Right through the year they are always just talking about the Delhi Capitals and can't wait to get back over there to the IPL, because what we've been able to do here is - and certainly we talk about it all the time - just really try and create one big family where everyone looks after each other and shares moments together. And my family's lucky to be a part of it," he added.
The legendary Australian player acknowledged that having his family close by is beneficial to him, as it was not an option for him when he was competing.
"But my family only know one way as well: they only know me around cricket and cricket teams. They have a really good understanding of when it is cricket time when it is Dad's turn to work, and when they can share a part of the day after I am done. As simple as that," said Ponting.
"I am lucky there that my wife has always been accepting of what comes with me being a player or me being a coach. We try and divide our time as well as we can, but, yeah, they know when it is Dad's turn to go to work," concluded Ponting.
(With ANI inputs)
English (US) ·