Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting gave an update about opener David Warner’s fitness for his team’s upcoming IPL 2024 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. This match will be played on Saturday, April 20, and will be an emotional homecoming to Delhi for DC captain Rishabh Pant.
Delhi Capitals are having a tough time, both on and off the field. They are currently ranked in the bottom half of the IPL 2024 table, with only two wins in seven matches. On top of that, the team is dealing with injuries to several key players.
They are already missing Mitchell Marsh owing to a hamstring injury, and he has returned home to Australia. Then, in their previous encounter against the Lucknow Super Giants, destructive opener David Warner injured his left hand.
The Australian struggled to stay at the crease before eventually dragging the ball back onto the stumps while attempting a scoop shot, which resulted in his dismissal.
Hopefully, he’s fit and ready: Ricky Ponting on David Warner
DC coach Ricky Ponting has said that he is hoping David Warner will be fit and ready for the upcoming IPL 2024 clash against SRH at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 20, Saturday.
Ponting has now provided an important update on the opener ahead of Saturday’s match in Delhi, where DC will play their first home match of the season.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference on Friday, the DC coach stated that David Warner was 85 to 90 percent fit a few days ago and that they hope he has improved. Ponting stated that Warner will need to perform a lot of batting against fast bowlers to determine whether he is experiencing any hand pain.
“David (Warner) did have an X-ray after the last game. That X-ray came back all clear. But, he’s got a lot of swelling around the knuckle on his left hand. He was 85 or 90 per cent fit a couple of days ago. We’d expect that there’d be a little bit more improvement from him today. But he’ll have to do a lot of batting today against fast bowling to make sure that the pain he had last week is not anymore. So, hopefully, he’s fit and ready,” said Ponting.
With Warner’s availability uncertain, Jake-Fraser McGurk and Prithvi Shaw might lead off the innings. McGurk demonstrated his worth with a fifty against the LSG in the final game.