Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting has warned his wards against over-training in the intense Dubai heat.

The weather conditions in the UAE will be a challenge, which, Ponting said, could be overcome by managing training sessions better.

“We’ve got a smaller squad, so I want to sort of manage our training sessions differently than we did last year. I’ve made it clear to the boys that we are not going to over-train in the first three weeks.

“I believe our preparation leading up to the first game is critical. I want to make sure that physically, technically and tactically, the boys are peaking for the first game,” Ponting said after his first training session with Delhi Capitals this season.

“I think we had slotted in about 20 training sessions before our first game, too many in my opinion, so we are just going to see how the boys are shaping up after every training session and then take it from there,” explained the two-time World Cup-winning captain of Australia.

Talking about how he intends to maintain the positive team environment from last season, Ponting said he wants his players to remember why they were successful last season. “I’ll be banking on the guys we still have from last year. It’s important for them to remember the positives. If they can impose that on the younger and new guys in the team, before you know it, you’re going to have this really infectious attitude around the team again.”

On the contentious “Mankading” issue, Ponting proposed introducing a one-run penalty for batsmen backing up too far at the non-striker’s end. “There should be some sort of run penalty. Like if you are to get to the top of your bowling action and stop, and it shows that the batsman is cheating, he is out of his crease, I think put a run penalty on him.”