Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting felt that his side didn’t bat well enough and emphasised the need to secure victories in their upcoming home fixtures in Dharamsala following their defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). Punjab Kings fell to an embarrassing loss in Sunday’s match against the RCB. Playing their final match in Mullanpur, PBKS were hammered by 7 wickets. After the match, coach Ricky Ponting said that they want to put this defeat behind them with a week-long rest.
Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting said they will move on from the loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and take advantage of a long rest over the next week. Punjab, having played their final match in Mullanpur, will now travel to Kolkata, where they face the Knight Riders on April 26. After playing two away games, the team will head to Dharamsala for three matches.
Punjab Kings were beaten by Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Mullanpur
PBKS’ growing momentum in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League came to a halt on Sunday after the Shreyas Iyer-led side fell to a 7-wicket defeat at the new PCA Stadium, New Chandigarh. After being asked to bat, openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh gave PBKS a brisk start. However, the middle order failed to capitalise, and the hosts posted a modest total of 157/6 in 20 overs.
With the ‘Chase Master’ Virat Kohli playing an unbeaten 73-run knock off 54 balls, RCB managed to chase down the total with seven balls to spare. In the aftermath of the defeat, head coach Ricky Ponting admitted Punjab Kings were not good enough with the bat on the night against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Ricky Ponting dejected with PBKS’ performance
Punjab Kings (PBKS) head coach Ricky Ponting was not happy with his team’s effort with the bat after being outclassed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The Aussie great felt that the condition was far better than the 157 PBKS managed during the seven-wicket defeat at the hand of RCB in their Indian Premier League (IPL) game on Sunday.
“I think the wicket was a whole lot better than 157. We had a lot of batsmen make starts, not go on and make those big scores, and that’s crucial in T20 cricket, especially guys at the top of the order. And that’s the difference,” Ricky Ponting said at the post-match press conference.
Ponting urged his team to take a leaf out of Virat Kohli’s book and learn how he capitalised on a good start.
“Virat bats through tonight, sees his team home, and we weren’t good enough to capitalise on a good start. I think at the end of the power play we were 62 for 1, pretty much where you’d want the game to be.
“So straight away there you’re looking at a score of 180 plus, even pushing on to 200 if your middle order bat well, but we lost wickets in clumps again tonight, which is not the first time in a tournament,” Ponting seemed a bit concerned.
Ponting lauded RCB spinners Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya and also felt that Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood were brilliant between overs 17 to 20.
“I thought their spinners bowled well, and their death bowling was exceptional at the end. Bhuvi and Hazelwood, the four overs that they bowled at the end, we still thought we could get to near 180, but their death bowling was too good and we struggled to 157.
“Unlike the last game here, where we dragged a win from nowhere, we weren’t good enough to do that tonight.”
Ricky Ponting feels that there was no uniform nature of the strip at Mullanpur, and the variety meant that PBKS needed to adjust each time it played a home game.
“One thing we know about it, it doesn’t offer a lot of pace and it doesn’t offer a lot of bounce, and we talk about that. And to be honest, the four games we’ve played here, each wicket’s been slightly different, so it just takes you a little bit of time to adjust.”
Punjab Kings now have a six-day break and Ponting would like to go back to the drawing board before the team plays Kolkata Knight Riders next.
“We’ve got a nice little break, we’ve got about a six-day break now, which on the back of I think three games in about five days,” the legend said.
Despite the loss, PBKS are placed 4th on the IPL 2025 points table with 10 points from 8 matches. The team has shown good form with both bat and ball this season and has rarely been completely outplayed.
Ricky Ponting noted that the last week had been hectic, with the team playing three games in five days, and welcomed the five-day break before their next match against KKR at Eden Gardens. Punjab Kings will next face Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on Saturday, April 26. Their next home game will be at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on May 4.
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