Punjab Kings missed out on IPL glory last year when they lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the finals. Shreyas Iyer is even more hungry to lift the IPL trophy this time around, said PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting.
Shreyas took charge as PBKS skipper last year and the team responded really well to his leadership as they topped the group before faltering in the final. Ponting said that Shreyas is ready to go one step further.
“The level of play that we saw from him last year with the bat was probably as good as he’s ever had in an IPL and I can just see that hunger in his eyes probably burning more than ever now,” Ponting was quoted saying ahead of Punjab’s season opener against Gujarat Titans on Tuesday.
“Having got so close as a captain with a new team last year, I’m sure that he’s very keen to go one step better this year,” the head coach said.
Ponting and Shreyas had previously worked together at Delhi Capitals and the former Australia captain revealed that he was determined to get Shreyas at the auction.
“We’ve worked together a lot now. We must have had maybe four or five years together at Delhi. When I got this role (at Punjab Kings) and realised that Shreyas was going into the mega auction, then I made sure I had enough money in my purse to be able to buy him at the auction,” Ponting said.
“I was really keen to work with Shreyas again (and) things worked out really quickly for us last year.”
“We’ve both got very similar ideas and mantras on the game. It’s not uncommon for us to be walking towards one another with a thought in our mind, and we get together and it’s exactly the same thing that we go to think about,” Ponting added.
Ponting said the addition of Australia’s Cooper Connolly to the Punjab Kings gives the squad a lot more flexibility compared to what they had last year. “With someone like Cooper Connolly coming into the squad, (it) gives us top order and middle order flexibility being a left-hander as well,” Ponting said.
“Last year, we had Priyansh (Arya) at the top and (Nehal) Wadhera in the middle. Someone like Cooper Connolly gives us a bit more flexibility through that batting order with left-hand, right-hand, if we decide to go that way.”
Ponting said Punjab Kings’ success in the last edition doesn’t mean anything going into a new season, and we have to start all over again.
“Our level of cricket last year was good enough for us to finish on top of the table, but that doesn’t mean anything going into a new season,” Ponting said.
“I talked a lot last year about this team that we put together as being different and (playing) a really daring style and brand of cricket, and we’ve got to start that all over again. It’s nil-nil now for everybody,” he also said.
