New Delhi, India

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting addressed the elephant in the room, saying his team's performance has been in shambles following their latest loss at the hands of Mumbai Indians, and for them to think of the playoffs, they must win their remaining matches in IPL 2024. With four losses in five contested games thus far, Delhi sits in the bottom half of the points table.

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Delhi has had some injury concerns earlier, and their selected XIs in most games failed to click, leaving the franchise’s chances of qualifying for the top four hanging by a thin thread. Ponting said he will still ensure his team leaves no stone unturned in its efforts to win the remaining matches and stay alive in the race for the playoffs.

"Now, it comes down to a nine-game tournament (for us). We have got to win eight of our next nine games -- as simple as that," said Ponting in his post-match address to the team in the DC dressing room.

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Meanwhile, batting first, Mumbai Indians scored 234 for five, with several contributors like Romario Shepard (10-ball 39*), Tim David (45*), Captain Rohit Sharma (49) and Ishan Kishan (42). Though Delhi fell shy of the target by 29 runs, the Indian pair of Prithvi Shaw (66) and Abishek Porel (41), and later Tristan Stubbs’ unbeaten 71 off 25 balls, which included seven sixes, brought everyone to their feet. 

“We will do everything we can. We have got to stick together and keep our chins up. There's a lot of good stuff that happened tonight (Sunday). I know we lost by 29 runs, but we got nearly 210 or something batting second.” 

“The par score here, as I said this morning, is 175. So, this is good stuff. We have just got to tighten up, be better at training on the 10th and make sure we are up for the next challenge on the 12th," said Ponting.

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Not over yet!

Under Rishabh Pant’s leadership, Delhi failed to prosper; however, Ponting is not ready to drop the guards yet, saying they plan to pick themselves up from here and prepare for the Lucknow tie on April 12. 

"The game's done, the result is there. All we talk about now is getting better for our next one," Ponting concluded.

Delhi is placed in the tenth position on the points table with two points.