IPL: Ponting praises Iyer's captaincy

New Delhi, May 21 - Delhi Daredevils coach Ricky Ponting on Sunday praised Shreyas Iyer for the way he led the team during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) after Gautam Gambhir stepped down from the captaincy earlier in the season.

"Gautam's stepping down didn't have any negative impact on our team. It probably came as a shock to the players and me. It was a courageous decision, you don't see such a decision everyday," Ponting said after Delhi defeated Mumbai Indians in their last IPL engagement this season.

"It gave the opportunity to Prithvi Shaw to play and Shreyas stepping up for the captaincy. It was a daunting thing to do to captain and I think he handled the challenge well. He is a tremendous young guy and I won't be surprised if I see more leadership role for him in future," he added.

Delhi, who were already out of the race for the play-offs, eliminated CSK's chances by notching up 11-runs victory at the Ferozshah Kotla.

Delhi thus ended their campaign on a high with back-to-back wins in their last two matches. Ponting however, rued the lack of consistency, lamenting that better performances in some of the earlier matches could have seen them challenge for a berth in the knockout stages.

"We had a pretty tough draw. We had five games in a row away from home at the start of the tournament. We only won one of those," the former Australia captain said. 

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