Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting compared skipper Shreyas Iyer to a ‘Rolls-Royce in third gear’ after the skipper Shreyas Iyer produced a measured half-century to shape his team’s big win against Lucknow Super Giants. Ponting, in an interaction with his team, reminded the players to “not take anything for granted” during the IPL 2025 campaign.
Effortlessly navigating through the rough patches, accelerating when possible, and cruising to the finish line with ease. PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer’s seamless unbeaten fifty last night against LSG, which guided his side to victory, had coach Ricky Ponting praising him for being the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of the team.
Shreyas Iyer’s seamless season with the bat for Punjab Kings in IPL 2025 till now
The Punjab Kings (PBKS) franchise has once again gone for a complete revamp ahead of the IPL 2025 season. With a history of constant overhauls, PBKS retained only two players before the mega auction in Jeddah—Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh. They used the Right to Match (RTM) card to bring back star pacer Arshdeep Singh and re-signed utility player Harpreet Brar. However, the biggest talking point was their high-profile purchases, including IPL 2024-winning captain Shreyas Iyer and veteran spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.
The team brought a sum of Rs 110.5 crore to the auction. By acquiring players like Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, and Nehal Wadhera, the team has assembled a formidable team. For INR 26.75 crore, PBKS defeated the bid of Shreyas Iyer, the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the IPL 2024 champion. A bid above INR 25 crore was seen for the first time in the history of the IPL auction.
The top IPL wicket-taker, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis were purchased by PBKS for INR 18 crore and INR 11 crore, respectively, while RTM was utilized for Arshdeep Singh. The most notable change comes in the form of a new leader at the helm — Shreyas Iyer. Acquired for a staggering Rs 26.75 crore, Shreyas Iyer takes over the captaincy after an impressive title-winning stint with Kolkata Knight Riders last season.
Shreyas Iyer leadership qualities and proven record as a middle-order rock make him the ideal choice to spearhead Punjab’s campaign. Shreyas Iyer’s presence in the batting lineup adds stability, while his ability to anchor and accelerate will be crucial for the team. They have also brought in Ricky Ponting as their new head coach.
New Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer became the seventh IPL captain to score over 2000 runs in the tournament’s history. The 30-year-old Shreyas Iyer made his IPL debut in 2015 and was part of the Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) till 2021 before switching his base to Kolkata Knight Riders. In IPL 2024, he led KKR to their third IPL title in history but the franchise didn’t retain him after failed negotiations.
Interestingly, Shreyas Iyer scored a half-century on his debut for Punjab. Debutant Priyansh Arya set the platform with 47 runs off 23 deliveries. Shreyas Iyer capitalised on the momentum, completing his half-century in 27 deliveries. He brought that up with a cracking six against Rashid Khan in the 14th over of the match. It was his 28th half-century in the tournament.
A blistering unbeaten 97 from skipper Shreyas Iyer, a powerful finish from Shashank Singh and a terrific exhibition of bowling at the death from impact sub Vijaykumar Vyshak helped a new-look Punjab Kings make a winning start to IPL 2025. Gujarat Titans were in the hunt for the major part of the chase despite having a daunting target of 244 in front of them, but they fell short in the end by a mere 11 runs.
Building on the fiery start achieved by Prabhsimran Singh, Iyer smashed his second unbeaten half-century, alongside Nehal Wadhera, to chase down the target of 172 and guided PBKS to an easy 8-wicket win with more than four overs to spare. Shreyas Iyer’s smooth operation at the crease enabled the Punjab Kings to cruise to victory with ease, something that the PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting commended the batter for.
Punjab Kings coach Ricky Ponting praises skipper Shreyas Iyer for his stellar performances in IPL 2025
Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting was all praise for his skipper Shreyas Iyer and called him ‘Rolls-Royce’ after he scored another unbeaten half-century to help his team win the second match in a row.
The stylish batter has been leading his new franchise from the front and has scored 149 runs in two matches at a sensational strike rate of 206.94, and he has not been dismissed so far. In the clash against Lucknow Super Giants, Iyer didn’t take much risk and still managed to strike at 173.33 in his 30-ball 52 as his innings was embellished with 3 fours and 4 sixes, including one to reach his fifty.
His presence in the middle brought calmness to the chase as young batters Prabhsimran Singh and Nehal Wadhera played fearless shots from the other end to make it a cakewalk for Punjab.
Ponting, who took over Punjab’s coaching duties this year, praised Iyer for steering the ship home. He said that the Rolls-Royce stayed in third gear, which was the need of the hour.
“Skipper (Iyer) did it easy again. Rolls-Royce just stayed in third gear for most of the day. Didn’t have to go any harder than that. Just steers the ship home. You haven’t got an average yet,” Ponting said in a video posted by Punjab Kings on X.
Meanwhile, it was opener Prabhsimran Singh who set the stage for a successful chase with his marvellous 69-run knockoff of 34 balls, which was laced with nine boundaries and three maximums at an incredible strike rate of 202.94.
Ricky Ponting also lauded the opening batter for learning from his mistakes in the last week and put up a impactful performance with the bat in crucial win for his side.
“Prabhsimran, I think you have learned a lot about yourself this week as well. I think you’ve proved to everyone just what a class act you are. We talk about players making an impact, right? You get an opportunity in a T20 game and it’s all about making an impact on the game and on the contest when you can,” he added.
With two wins in as many matches, Punjab are currently placed at the second spot on the table and will next face Rajasthan Royals in Chandigarh on Saturday.