Delhi Daredevils coach Ricky Ponting says Gautam Gambhir is likely to lead the team in IPL 2018

Bengaluru: Delhi Daredevils are confident about Gautam Gambhir’s leadership qualities and will ask the veteran batsman to captain side in the next IPL edition, coach Ricky Ponting said on Saturday. Gambhir, released by Kolkata Knight Riders despite a successful stint with them, was picked by Daredevils. “We had a fair bit of thought into that. It is likely now that Gambhir will lead the team next season. We had conversation with him. He has conveyed to us that he would like to make a comeback to his home Delhi and hopefully lead the team,” Ponting said after the auction. [caption id=“attachment_3451994” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Gautam Gambhir. Sportzpics[/caption] “And if you look at his leadership, we did not find any fault when captaining KKR. His last season of IPL also has also been very good. So we thought it would be good to have him as captain working with some of the young Indian players. So, we have gone for an experienced captain and I am sure he will do the job for us,” the Australian great added. Ponting said he was not surprised that KKR did not try to get Gambhir back. “Not really. When you look at it and see what they have done today is that they want to regenerate their franchise and the team. Look, Gautam has been there for a long time. He might himself felt it is time for a change for a fresh start. We are glad to have him as part of Delhi franchise.” As many as 15 uncapped players were sold by paying more than some of the national players. Asked what made them go for uncapped all-rounders, Ponting said the idea was to groom future stars. “I think all the teams want to invest and nurture young talent,” he said. Gambhir fetched Rs 2.8 crore while another veteran Harbhajan Singh was bought at his base price of Rs 2 crore by Chennai Super Kings. When Ponting’s views were sought on the issue, he said, the youngsters are expected to edge out senior players in Twenty20 cricket. “Playing this game is becoming increasingly difficult. Young players around the world are playing more and more T20 cricket. They develop their skills lot earlier, probably ten years ago. “For old players, it is quite difficult to keep fit compared to young players. It is very hard to improve when you reach 35. You can keep yourself reasonably fit, so that might be the reason for some of the old players going cheaply in the auction.