Ricky Ponting’s 4-year contract as Head Coach of Punjab Kings
Finally, Ricky Ponting is appointed as the new head coach of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) for the forthcoming season. Earlier, the former Australian captain coached Delhi Capitals for 7 years. On 18th September 2024, Ricky Ponting replaced Trevor Bayliss and became the new head coach of Punjab Kings.
Punjab Kings CEO about Ricky Ponting
At a recent event, Punjab Kings CEO Satish Menon expressed his happiness about Ricky Ponting’s onboarding of their franchise. He made it certain to the public and media that Ponting would continue to be the head coach for another four seasons of the Indian Premier League.
Here is what he said exactly:
“Of course! We are fortunate to have Ricky Ponting to mentor and strengthen our team for the upcoming 4 seasons. We need his experience developing the team that leads to on-field success.”
Delhi Capitals under Ricky Ponting Head Coaching
The Delhi Capitals became a strong contender under Ricky Ponting’s coaching, and the team could reach the finals in 2020. Ponting had earlier coached Mumbai Indians.
Since the IPL had evolved in 2008, Punjab couldn’t win the Indian Premier League. Now, the 4 co-owners of the franchise are hoping that the former Australian captain and successful head coach will change the destiny of this franchise.
Unfortunately, Punjab has been that one team victim of frequent criticism as they failed to finish in the top 5 positions from the previous 7 editions. Moreover, in the 2024 edition of IPL, Punjab Kings finished in the 9th position out of a total of 10.
The most anticipated RUMOR about Ricky Ponting isn’t a Rumor anymore?
While the IPL (Indian Premier League) 2025 edition is yet to conduct its mega auction soon, there have been many rumors. It includes players switching from one franchise to another, changes in player retention rules, and changes in squad leadership.
But apart from all of the above, Ricky Ponting was expected to replace Trevor Bayliss and become the head coach of the Punjab Kings. This rumor was most anticipated because Punjab Kings had unfortunately gained the name “Unsuccessful and Unlucky IPL team”.
There have been many fans who loyally stayed and supported Punjab from the beginning but always ended up getting disappointed.
But this time when this rumor came up they were eagerly awaiting this to become a reality for Punjab Kings. It is because they hoped that the successful legendary cricketer Ricky Ponting could change the fate of this franchise and rewrite their destiny by leading them to victory.
As fans and spectators expected, this rumor is no more a rumor after 18th September 2024. Ricky Ponting takes over as the new head coach of Punjab Kings with a contract of 4 years (another 4 seasons of IPL).
Ricky Ponting about taking up as Head Coach of Punjab Kings
Recently, Ricky Ponting stated that he would be approaching with a different playing style strategy for Punjab Kings, and he is looking forward to taking up the challenge.
“Yeah! Already I had conversations with the franchise owners and management, and I am very eager to take advantage of the new challenge. Also, I was pleased to see the harmonious combination of our ideas for the team. This time we are willing to pay tribute to the fans who have consistently stood with the franchise for many years. So, we promise that Punjab Kings is going to be very different from what they have witnessed earlier.”
RECAP to the Previous 2 Seasons
Ricky Ponting was a successful captain for Australia and head coach for Delhi Capitals. Punjab Kings for the previous 2 seasons had followed a set of formulas that might not be seen hereafter. As Ponting had promised to change the playing pattern and strategy, now the longtime fans of Punjab are eagerly awaiting his arrival as head coach.
- Trevor Bayliss — Head Coach of Punjab Kings for the previous 2 seasons
- Shikhar Dhawan — Captained the team.
- Sunil Joshi — Coached the spin bowlers
- Charles Langveldt — Trained Pace bowlers
- Sanjay Bangar — Responsible for cricket development.
Earlier, Anil Kumble had coached Punjab Kings before Trevor Bayliss did! But Kumble couldn’t make it to success.
Solid Seven couldn’t take Punjab Kings to Success
It isn’t that the team had weak players or the franchise owners did not opt for the right players during the auction. Because, Punjab Kings had a list of “solid seven” which could have worked wonders, but unfortunately it didn’t reap the results for them
Here are the solid seven of Punjab Kings:
- Sam Curran
- Jonny Bairstow
- Liam Livingstone
- Kagiso Rabada
- Jitesh Sharma
- Arshdeep Singh
- Jonny Livingstone
As of Punjab Kings in the recently concluded season, Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh were the only 2 prominent players.
Other coaching Achievements of Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting has carved his name as a successful coach in some popular leagues by training and guiding particular franchises.
Here are some of the most prominent coaching achievements of Ricky Ponting:
- Ricky Ponting led the team Washington Freedom to glorious victory in the US-based MLC (Major League Cricket).
- On top of that, Ricky Ponting led the team Hobart Hurricanes as head of strategy in the popular BBL (Big Bash League) since 2021.
Apart from the coaching and mentoring achievements, during his playing career, he accumulated 13,378 runs in 168 Test matches. Also, Ricky Ponting achieved 13,704 runs in 375 international one-day matches.
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