Recently, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) secured the services of the former Australian captain and coach, Ricky Ponting, as their new head coach for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2025. It will be the third team in the league’s history for the Tasmania-batter, who spent two years with Mumbai Indians before spending seven years with the Delhi Capitals.
Ricky Ponting’s best season in the role came in the inaugural season when the Rohit Sharma-led side became the champions of the 2015 IPL, while under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, the Capitals ended as the runners-up of the 2020 edition of the competition.
“Yeah, I’m very happy to be back in the IPL. It’s been such a big part of my life; it’s been ten or 11 years now that I have been going to the IPL. The thing that keeps drawing me back is the level of cricket and the quality of players you get to work with.” The Launceston-born expressed during his recent interview with ESPNcricinfo, as he displayed his disappointment in parting ways with Delhi Capitals.
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Punjab Kings is one of the inconsistent sides in the league, which has changed their coaches the most in the last few seasons. The former England coach, Trevor Baylis, was part of the set-up in the last two years, while Anil Kumble and Virender Sehwag were also part of the side.
Ricky Ponting discloses why India is so good across formats
The 49-year-old shared that the challenge to develop the skills of the 2014 runners-up was something that he found quite exciting, besides vowing to go for some good players for a better outing in the next IPL.
“I was talking to a few teams, but it was “Project Punjab” which attracted me. It is a team that hasn’t had a lot of success over a long period, a team that’s changed coaches a lot, so I saw it as a challenge.” Ricky Ponting remarked during the interview. “The other exciting part is that I saw some really exciting youngsters last year at King’s that hopefully we can attract back to the team for this season and put together a team that is going to be good enough to win the IPL.”
The deal for Ponting is four years, which means he will get the full opportunity to work with the players for the next three seasons, whom they would pick in the upcoming mega auction of the IPL 2025.
“What I have found with the IPL is, that it’s quite rare that you put your perfect team together during a mega auction, which is the first year. You think you are going to because you have all this money to spend and all these players to buy, but it rarely works out that way.” Ricky Ponting touched on how the management was keen to have a long-term deal to sustain the success.
The two-time World Cup-winning captain for Australia also believes that the coaching has changed over the years, and picking the right person for the job is the reason why India has been so successful around the globe.
“Coaching’s a lot more specific in the IPL now. Every team has pretty much got every base covered: you have the fast-bowling coaches, spin-bowling coaches, high-quality fielding coaches, the best analysts going around, who I count as being part of your coaching staff because they play such an important role.” Ricky Ponting elaborated during the interview with ESPNcricinfo.
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Punter also gave his view on how selecting the right captain for the Punjab Kings will be vital for them. He shared a great relationship in the last few years with Rishabh Pant and now needs to keep an eye on someone who will be consistent in the performance.
“The reason that I chose this franchise over the others – there are other jobs there that were probably a little bit easier if you like – but this is the best challenge for me. And the result could be the most satisfying as well.” Ricky Ponting concluded.