IPL 2020: Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting labels Alex Carey as 'match-winner'

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting has lauded new addition Alex Carey and termed him as a match-winning cricketer.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 auctions took place in Kolkata on Thursday (December 19) for the upcoming season which saw Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) make Aussie pacer Pat Cummins the costliest player in the history of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the Delhi franchise bought in eight new faces in the auctions that includes the likes of Jason Roy, Chris Woakes, Shimron Hetmyer, Alex Carey, Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav, Mohit Sharma and Tushar Deshpande.

The former Australian skipper saw Alex Carey bat at number 4 for Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League and praised the wicketkeeper-batsman's qualities while speaking to cricket.com.au.

“This role that he’s playing now is the exact reason he became so appealing to me and the Delhi Capitals,” Ponting claimed.

Ponting also pointed out the fact that Carey’s is a good player of spin bowling but claimed that he will come into the DC side only when Rishabh Pant picks up an injury or has to sit out.

“He’s a good player of spin, and he’s got such a good cricket brain and a sensible head on his shoulders that I feel he’ll be able to get us across the line in a lot of games (next) year. And also if we have an injury to our current wicket-keeper, Rishabh Pant, then obviously he can fill that role nicely for us as well,” he added.

The Delhi Capitals coach then went on to express his thoughts on how he considers IPL and the BBL as two of the best tournaments in the world and he can't wait for the IPL to resume again.

“I can’t wait. I’ve got a big smile on my face thinking about it. It’s one of those tournaments you really want to be part of, as is the Big Bash, and I see those as probably the big two in the world,” he claimed.

Delhi Capitals Full squad: Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Jason Roy, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Kagiso Rabada, Keemo Paul, Mohit Sharma, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, R Ashwin, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, Rishabh Pant, Alex Carey, Shimron Hetmyer, Tushar Deshpande.