IPL 2022: Delhi Capitals take cautious approach as Covid-19 affects Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting

With the seventh Covid-19 positive case detected in the Delhi Capitals camp, their players and support staff were told to be extra cautious for their match against Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday.

DC head coach Ricky Ponting was forced to go into isolation for five days after a member of his family tested positive in a fresh round of testing. Ponting, though, has returned negative twice. The DC management felt the Australian legend should be in isolation since he was in close contact with his family.

DC players and support staff members were seen maintaining social distancing. Even when DC Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan were chatting with their RR friends there was enough gap between them. DC's assistant coach Praveen Amre too was seen maintaining sufficient distance from the groundsmen while having a look at the pitch.

Delhi Capitals were the first to arrive at the Wankhede and RR were allowed to enter the dressing room only after the DC players had entered their dressing room. The customary handshakes between the two captains (Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson) also did not take place at the toss.

The tension in the DC camp was visible with head coach Ponting missing from the dugout. "He's [Ponting] the boss of the team and when the boss is not here you feel a bit different. But we have other coaches here and they understand these things. We will be fine playing under them. The boss is watching from the hotel room and I hope we don't disappoint him," said Shaw in an interview to the host broadcaster. DC captain Pant said there was a conscious effort to be distracted from the COVID setback. "[We have] told the boys not to focus on the outside and keep backing each other," he said at the toss.

Sangakkara frees his arms at practice

Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, the director of cricket for Rajasthan Royals, was seen freeing his arms on Friday when he put his team through some high catches practice. Despite being the team boss, Sangakkara swung the bat in full force to ensure the players had a tough time catching them. However, at all times, his catchers seemed ready to accomplish the task.