Courtesy: BCCI/IPL
Punjab Kings (PBKS) head coach Ricky Ponting has appreciated Indian players’ contribution to the team’s sensational campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 so far. Ahead of his team’s clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1, Ponting appeared in an interview with PTI and revealed that when he was appointed the coach of the side, he wanted complete liberty regarding the functioning of coach staff and planning in the 2025 IPL auction held in Jeddah. He also praised scouts for building the team superbly at the business event.
“I made it pretty clear that when I accepted the head coach's job that I wanted to have pretty much full autonomy over the way that we go about the coaching staff and the way that we go about putting the strategy together with the auction, our scouts did a terrific job. We got the players that we wanted, whether they'd be younger players or more experienced overseas players,” said Ponting to PTI. The Australian also highlighted Shreyas Iyer’s exceptional leadership prowess in the tournament while praising Indian players. “Our Indian core has been terrific for us. And, our captain, as a leader he has been magnificent. So a lot of it revolves around that, the dynamic that he and I have together,” added the three-time World Cup-winning skipper.
Shreyas Iyer has been sensational in IPL 2025
Shreyas Iyer has justified his role as PBKS captain and batter in this competition. Donning the leadership role, he helped Punjab conclude their league round at the top of the points table and qualify for the playoffs for the first time after 11 years. Talking about his batting performance, the 30-year-old is the highest run-getter with 514 runs in 14 matches, at a brilliant strike rate of 171.90. With these numbers, he is the most successful batter for Punjab this season so far.
If Punjab succeeds in lifting the trophy, Shreyas will break into the record books as the only captain to win the title for two different teams. Besides that, he will also become the third skipper to bag two back-to-back IPL trophies, following Chennai Super Kings (CSK) MS Dhoni and Mumbai Indians’ (MI) Rohit Sharma.
