New Chandigarh, March 22
Punjab Kings’ new head coach Ricky Ponting is all pumped up for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 and shared his thoughts for the season including building the best-ever team in the franchise's history to lift their maiden title.
In his latest conversation with meta creators at New PCA stadium in New Chandigarh, the Australian World Cup-winning captain looked quite confident of the new squad built in this season’s auction and is backing them to lift the trophy this year.
“The overall vision for this team is to win the IPL. I told the guys on the very first day when I joined the camp in Dharamshala that we were going to create and become the greatest Punjab Kings team that's played. That's the journey that we're on and that doesn't happen overnight. You've got to create that,” said the former Australian captain.
Explaining the winning mindset he is trying to bring to the team, Ponting added, “Winning is really an attitude thing. If we turn up to play, the opposition turns up to play, if they want to beat us, then it feels like they're taking something away and I don't want to let anyone take anything away from me or take anything away from my team.”
Additionally, the new head coach believes that the team has the right balance of young and experienced players, which will be another key factor in ensuring their success in the tournament.
Revealing the youngsters who have already impressed him in practice, Ricky said, “Priyansh Arya, I think is a very special potential opening batsman for us going forward in the tournament. Depending on which way we go with our overseas make-up, he's very exciting. Suryansh Shedge is also someone who has been very impressive in our training so far.”
“When I talk about energy and fun, another player that I am impressed with, is Musheer Khan. He's brought a lot to the group already. He has got an infectious attitude, and around the training ground and around the team so far, he's been someone that I've really enjoyed working with,” he added.
He further revealed how he banks on the overseas experienced players to set the right example for youngsters as the latter looks up to them. “I put a lot of the bait on them to ensure that they're setting the right example. Because a lot of the young domestic Indian players look up to the overseas boys and if the overseas boys aren't doing the right thing, then it's easy for the young Indian guys to not do the right thing either. So I empower the overseas guys to be the leaders and lead the way,” he said.
Punjab Kings will begin their season against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 25. After another away game against Lucknow Super Giants, they will be back to their home ground, to play two home games against Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings.
