NEW DELHI: Indian Premier League outfit Punjab Kings’ newly-appointed head coach Ricky Ponting admitted that he was in talks with other franchises, but it was “Project Punjab” that eventually attracted him.
On Wednesday, the Punjab Kings announced Ponting’s appointment as head coach. The former Australia skipper will assume charge for the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and beyond.
Ponting revealed that he was in touch with a few teams, but he saw the culture of constant changes in the coaches as a challenge to take up.
“Yes, I was talking to a few teams, but it was “Project Punjab,” which attracted me. It is a team that hasn’t had a lot of success over a long period of time, a team that’s changed coaches a lot, so I saw it as a challenge. The other exciting part is that I saw some really exciting youngsters last year at Kings’ that hopefully we can attract back to the team for this season and put together a team that is going to be good enough to win the IPL,” Ponting said, as quoted from ESPNcricifno.
“I mean, there’s no doubting over the years that the Kings have had good players, have had good teams. They just haven’t been able to win it yet. I have a longish-term deal there, and hopefully, during that period of time we can win the IPL,” he added.
Ponting is the third head coach in four seasons for the Punjab Kings, who finished ninth in the 2024 IPL season. The team has not reached the playoffs since 2014, when they were runners-up.
After his playing days in the cash-rich league ended, in 2018, Ponting took over as head coach of the Delhi Capitals. During his reign, he guided them to three consecutive playoff appearances from 2019 to 2021, including their maiden final in 2020.
After his tenure with the Delhi Capitals ended in July 2024, Ponting led the Washington Freedom to a title-winning campaign in the Major League Cricket (MLC).
Ponting admitted that he was disappointed about his time ending with the Delhi Capitals after seven years that he spent with the franchise.
“Yeah, I’m very happy to be back in the IPL. It’s been such a big part of my life, it’s been ten or 11 years now that I have been going to the IPL. The thing that keeps drawing me back is the level of cricket and the quality of players you get to work with. Obviously, I was disappointed to finish with DC after the seven years there, but I understand all the reasoning behind that,” he said.
“But now this opportunity’s come up with Kings. I see this as a real coaching challenge. It’s almost like a coaching project for me, and having spoken to the management and the owners, they understand the path I want to head on. And we are aligned really well so far,” he added. (ANI)