Capitals boss: A step in the right direction
Bisht speaks about 10 teams in 2022 and their purple patch
The Indian Premier League 2022 will come back in a bigger avatar with two more teams next year and according to the head honcho of Delhi Capitals — a team whose performance graph had seen a huge upward curve in recent years — it’s a step in the right direction.
“I have always felt that time has come for the IPL to get bigger. With 10 teams, the format becomes bigger with opportunities for more players and support staff. However, the challenge will be getting a bigger window to ensure availability of the players,” said Colonel Vinod Bisht, the interim Chief Executive Officer of the franchise.
The Rishabh Pant-led team, which will be taking on Kolkata Knight Riders in Sharjah today, has been able to maintain its early season momentum in the UAE leg of the campaign and are looking very much a contender to end their search for the elusive crown. It’s been a complete transformation in the franchise’s pre-2019 phase and according to the Capitals official, they have just started reaping the rewards of investing in young talent as well as keeping their faith in continuity.
Speaking to Gulf News, Bisht looked back at their recent journey: “Any squad building takes time. You have to introduce fresh blood and keep supporting them. When we took Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Prithvi Shaw three years back, they were youngsters but now they are international stars. We had also brought in a blend of experience with Shikhar Dhawan, Ravi Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane and Axar Patel. While the fresh blood was raring to go, it was also tempered with experience.
“We also roped in Ricky Ponting as head coach and we have started getting the results now.”