'If there had been 10 teams in IPL 1, 2 or 3 the talent pool would have been stretched thin but now the depth in Indian cricket alone means you have seven world class players as the local Indian player and the overseas players complement them.'
Ponting said the way DC played they deserve to be in the title clash this season.
The blockbuster series will be a survival of the fittest as Australia look to avenge successive losses on home soil when they go head-to-head from Friday.
Australia's legend Ricky Ponting said the Impact Player rule in the IPL has made the batters more fearless and stronger
'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.'
'He has got to do a bit of work on his 'keeping and he will also become a better batsman.'
Ponting also cleared the air on veteran pacer Ishant Sharma and David Warner's fitness status, confirming that the former is fit for selection on Tuesday.
When asked to pick the 'best batsman' he has bowled to, Afridi named legendary West Indies batsman Brian Lara and South Africa's AB de Villiers.
Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja are set for important milestones during the coming series against Bangladesh.
A man who boasts a strike rate of 159.22 in the shortest format, Head became the fifth Aussie cricketer to score most runs in an over in T20Is.
Indian openers Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal looked clueless against the Australian attack in both the innings.
Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting said his side planned well for the match but their execution was 'miles off' which led to the defeat against Mumbai Indians.
Ricky Ponting believes all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is playing 'five times better' than what he was a year ago and could take up multiple roles for Australian cricket in limited overs cricket, including the job of a finisher.
Ponting received his commemorative cap from compatriot ICC Cricket Hall of Famer Glenn McGrath during the tea break
Delhi Capitals off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin says he has spoken to his IPL coach Ricky Ponting on the contentious issue of 'Mankading' when the bowler runs out batsmen who back up too far at the non-striker's end, but will reveal the contents of the telephonic conversation only next week.
Australia all-rounder Cameron Green will miss the home Test series against India in a blow for the hosts after opting for surgery on a stress fracture in his lumbar spine.
Alastair Cook backs Joe Root to surpass Sachin Tendulkar as leading run-getter in Test cricket
Rishabh Pant is experiencing an entire gamut of emotions from nervousness to excitement as he gears up for his first competitive game in nearly 15 months when he leads Delhi Capitals in their IPL opener against Punjab Kings in Chandigarh on Saturday.
The humiliation in Adelaide has opened up 'serious wounds' for India and Australia now have a good chance of inflicting on the visitors a whitewash in the four-Test series, reckons former captain Ricky Ponting.
'I still enjoy playing it and think a lot of young guys coming through still see it as a good opportunity to play for your country.'
Having competed against quality cricketers, the 2005 Ashes stands out as special series for both Australian legends.
Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting along with a few players including senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, all-rounder Axar Patel, batsman Shimron Hetmyer and pacer Chris Woakes, checked in to their team hotel in Mumbai on Monday ahead of the 14th edition of the IPL, starting next month.
Ricky Ponting slammed the current team for showing 'no desperation'
'The wicket did not seem to get slower, visually it looked a really good wicket, Warner and Bairstow played the conditions really well, they ran the twos really well. I think the wicket got slightly better in the second innings, which is disappointing for us. We wanted to chase, we felt there will be dew, but no excuses from us, we were just outplayed.'
England star Joe Root is cementing his status as one of the greatest players as he achieved new career-high rating in the latest ICC Men's Test Batter Rankings.
'They've played really good, tough, hard Test match cricket day-in and day-out. India have won all the big moments in every Test match and Australia have fallen short. That's been the difference between the two teams.'
Rishabh Pant flaunted his big-hitting skills and variety in a video of his first training session with the Delhi Capitals on Wednesday.
'It is humanly impossible to sustain at the level at which he was playing between 2014 and 2019.' 'The dip had to come.'
The scandal unfolded when senior Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was charged with racially abusing Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds during the second Test at Sydney. The incident created a lot of bitterness between the two teams with India threatening to pull out of the tour before the ICC intervened.
Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting is aware that it might be possible to retain only three to four players before IPL's mega auction but given a chance he would love to enter the next season with almost the same team he has now.
With Green out with injury, Bancroft's chances have brightened.
'No doubt it's their best preparation to be in those exact conditions, playing in probably the strongest domestic T20 tournament in the world.'
Joe Root and Harry Brook's centuries powered England's strong reply on Day 3 of the first Test in Multan.
Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting believes that captain Rishabh Pant understands the game very well and the extra responsibility of leading the team will be a motivating factor for the wicketkeeper-batsman in IPL 2021.
Ponting said with one down in the very first over, the side wanted to match the runs scored by SRH in the powerplay
'I think Stokes would actually grow as a player if he was the captain of that side.'
The Rohit Sharma-led side won its fifth IPL title. The franchise had earlier won the tournament in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019.
Weather conditions will be a challenge for all teams and Ponting said they can be overcome by managing training sessions better.
Pucovski rode his luck and Marnus Labuschagne showed resolve as the duo hit half-centuries to put Australia in a dominating position in a rain-curtailed opening day at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
