Ricky Ponting has turned the Punjab Kings (PBKS) from constant underachievers into serious IPL contenders. The Australian legend, who is known for his aggressive style and sharp cricket brain, has revealed that he had demanded complete control before joining Punjab Kings as head coach.
After years of heartbreak and inconsistency, Punjab Kings finally stormed into the IPL playoffs after more than a decade. And the credit goes to Ponting, who played it smart at the IPL 2025 mega auction, where he focused on young and uncapped talents with raw potential instead of expensive superstars.
He retained only two players, Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh, and built a squad designed to play the kind of fearless, attacking cricket he’s always believed in, and the result under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy is in front of the world.
However, before signing in as head coach, Ponting made it crystal clear that he wanted full autonomy over decisions. The Australian legend wanted to run things his way, and PBKS promised him no interference and no compromises, and the result is absolutely stunning.
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However, before taking up the role with PBKS, Ponting earlier coached the Delhi Capitals for seven years and took them to the 2020 final, but couldn’t bring home the trophy. Reflecting on his journey with Delhi Capitals, the current PBKS head coach said that he didn’t have any point to prove.
Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying by PTI, “I'm not sure if I had a point to prove. With the good squads that I had in DC, it was pretty evident to see where we made it with good players in that squad. We had three years in a row where we made the playoffs. One of those was in a final that Mumbai beat us in.”
Ricky Ponting reveals his condition before taking over as Punjab Kings head coach
Talking about his new role at PBKS, Ponting revealed that he had only one condition before signing up, and that was full control. He wanted to lead the coaching setup and shape the auction strategy. And with the help of smart scouting, Ponting believes that the Punjab Kings are finally on the right path.
The PBKS head coach further noted, “I made it pretty clear that when I accepted the head coach's job (with Punjab Kings) 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.”
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Ricky Ponting praises PBKS squad depth in IPL 2025
The former World Cup-winning captain is proud of how PBKS handled early setbacks in the IPL 2025. He said the team got the players they wanted, and even after losing Glenn Maxwell and Lockie Ferguson early in the tournament due to injuries, they didn’t miss a step in the tournament.
Ponting signed off by saying, “We got the players that we wanted, whether they'd be younger players or more experienced overseas players. And that's been shown so far that, with Glenn Maxwell and Lockie Ferguson getting ruled out early in the tournament, we've hardly skipped a beat.”
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