Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has been appointed as the head coach of Punjab Kings (PBKS) from IPL 2025, a move which comes barely two months after he and Delhi Capitals parted ways, ending his seven-year tenure at the franchise.
ESPNcricinfo understands that this deal is for multiple years, and one of the teams with multiple owners. It is understood that the remaining coaching staff will be finalised by Ponting. No clarity yet regarding whom from the coaching unit of last year stays on the books: Trevor Bayliss (head coach), Sanjay Bangar (head of cricket development), Charl Langeveldt (fast-bowling coach), Sunil Joshi (spin-bowling coach).
Ponting becomes the third head coach in four seasons at Punjab, who ended ninth in the 2024 season. The side has not been a qualified outfit for the IPL playoffs since 2014 when they finished runners-up. Ponting’s first challenge would be to cut down on shortlisting players that could be potentially retained for the next season even as the franchises wait for the IPL to finalise the retention rules.
Harshal Patel was the purple cap winner of the tournament for the second successive season, and uncapped Indians Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, who proved to be an exciting Indian pair, were also the key performers for Punjab during the last season. Punjab too have India left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, legspinner Rahul Chahar in their squad along with a healthy bunch of overseas players, including the England trio of Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow and South Africa quick Kagiso Rabada.
With Shikhar Dhawan retiring recently, Punjab will also be keen to identify a new captain.
Ponting has been involved in the IPL since its inception in 2008 as a player, first for Kolkata Knight Riders and then Mumbai Indians, whom he quit as captain mid-term into the 2013 season that then resulted in Rohit Sharma taking on the captaincy. Mumbai won the tournament the same year, and Ponting remained on as an advisor the following year before taking on the head coach position for two years from 2015 to 2016.
In 2018, Ponting became head coach of Capitals which qualified for the playoffs three consecutive seasons between 2019 and 2021, where they reached the first IPL final in 2020. Ending his tenure with Capitals in July, Ponting was head coach when Washington Freedom won their title in 2024.
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