‘We’ve built strong mix of youth & experience and goal is to win trophy’: Ponting, Iyer

CHANDIGARH: With the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) around the corner, Punjab Kings (PBKS) addressed the media at the season launch press conference. The press conference was attended by Head Coach Ricky Ponting, Captain Shreyas Iyer and CEO Satish Menon, who delved deeper into the team’s plans and targets for the upcoming season.

Head coach Ponting was all praise for Shreyas as he expressed how glad he is to have the latter as the captain of the side and said he is looking forward to work with him again.

“He’s a great human being. He is an IPL-winning captain. We could not have asked for more. He has only joined the camp a couple of days ago so he is starting to make his mark on the team as a captain and as a leader and that will evolve over the next few days before we get into our first game. But as I said, I could not have been happier,” said Ponting, as quoted from a release by Punjab Kings.

First title loading for Punjab? #ShreyasIyer is clear and confident! #PunjabKings is on a mission to lift the #TATAIPL trophy & we can’t agree more because 𝙔𝙚𝙝 𝙄𝙋𝙇 𝙝𝙖𝙞…𝙮𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙗 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙞!

Watch the EXCLUSIVE conversation with Shreyas … pic.twitter.com/ffDo7crXI1

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 19, 2025

Further explaining how the new squad of the team contains appropriate balance, the two-time World Cup-winning skipper said, “We have had a really good mix of youth and experience. We have really high-quality of Indian players and some really high-quality overseas players as well.”

“I am elated with how the squad has come together. We had our first session here last night which went really good. The boys have trained really well,” he added expressing his satisfaction with the combination.

Iyer also expressed his excitement to work again with Ponting and explained how his presence is adding to overall depth to the team.

“He supports everyone. When I worked with him for the first time in the past, he made me feel like I am a great player and I can easily excel in this format. The confidence he gives a player is of a different level,” he said, as quoted from a release by Punjab Kings.

He further deliberated on the team’s objective for the season and said,”The goal is to win the trophy, that’s our mindset right now and it’s a step-by-step process, it’s not like you wake up in the morning and do it but the way we’re practicing right now and the way we’re sharing our wavelength and camaraderie with each other, it’s going really well.”

Meanwhile, commenting on the team’s structure and their preparations for the new season, CEO Satish Menon further added, “The team is fearless. The youngsters in our squad are fearless. We have a great coach in Ponting and a great IPL-winning captain in Iyer. I don’t think you can get bigger than that. We have also focused on building our brand of Punjab and hene we have a lot of players from the state in our squad.”

Set to begin the campaign on March 25, Punjab Kings will face Gujarat Titans in their first contest at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The team will then return to their home ground, the New PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh for two home games against Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. (ANI)