Punjab Kings have roped in Ricky Ponting as their head coach for the upcoming Indian Premier League season. Punjab Kings had a whopping purse of 110.5Cr in the Mega Auction in Jeddah, the most among the teams. Ricky Ponting & Co. used that money well and they made some huge marquee signings at the auction.
Many uncapped Indian players who excelled in their respective state-based T20 competitions could secure good deals at the IPL 2025 mega auction in Jeddah. One team that made significant investments in some of them was Punjab Kings. For example, opener Priyansh Arya, who was purchased for INR 3.8 crore, was a sensation in the Delhi Premier League (DPL), scoring 608 runs in 10 innings at a scorching strike rate of 198.69 and making headlines for hitting six sixes in an over on his way to a scorching century.
Promising players like Harnoor Pannu, who played for India in the 2022 U19 World Cup and scored 578 runs in 12 games, including 33 sixes in the Sher-e-Punjab T20 tournament, were also signed by the team. Other young players selected by Punjab after attracting the attention of their scouts are Pravin Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Pyla Avinash, and Musheer Khan, who hit significant runs at the U19 World Cup, Ranji Trophy, and Duleep Trophy this year.
Will Be Criticized For Signing So Many Aussies – Ricky Ponting
Punjab Kings has shown interest in the Indian Domestic players and has invested in a few young talents in India.
“We have brought some of the best young Indian talent into our group, which is very exciting. So, our scouts have done a great job and worked really hard and well to make sure that the auctions go exactly how we wanted them to,” said head coach Ricky Ponting.
Ricky Ponting has also bought in 5 Australian players at the auction – Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie and Xavier Bartlett, which made for an amusing look.
“We have (a few Australians) and I’ll probably get some criticism. I think we have got five Aussies out of our complement of eight overseas. But when you look at the slots that we needed, the players that we have got fitted into those roles perfectly,”
“To have Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell back to Kings is huge as they have both played here in the past. A couple of new guys, including Xavier Bartlett, Aaron Hardie, and Josh Inglis, are coming into the IPL for the first time, which is also really exciting for us,” added Ponting.
Punjab Kings Have Some Quality All-rounders In Their Roster
Ricky Ponting also talked about the acquisition of quality all-rounders like Hardie, Marco Jansen and Azmatullah Omarzai, which was aimed at bringing balance and stability to the team.
“So we have many world-class all-rounders with Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Hardie. So it’s worked out really well.”
“I couldn’t be happier. I mean, everyone’s going to walk away saying that they are really happy with their auctions, but I think the overall feeling around our table and certainly what a lot of the Punjab fans are saying is that they are really happy with the job that we have done so far.”
Ricky Ponting said that he was extremely pleased with how the auction went through for the franchise and he was satisfied with the players that they picked.
“Extremely happy (with the auction). We had a great Day One, securing some of our bigger-name players and some of our most expensive players. But we knew Day Two was probably even more important.”
“We had more slots to fill and some important ones as well. We came into this auction thinking that, with the amount of money we would spend, we might get 20 or 21 players. But we have got a full quota, including eight overseas players.”
Ricky Ponting and Co. suggested that they are all set to go and win the IPL with the sqaud that they have got.
“I am (ready for the season) now. Now, that’s all the hard work is done really. For the auctions, there’s a lot of hard work that’s gone into the two days of the auction. We’ve got the players. Now, it’s over to me and the other coaching staff to make sure that when we get there in March sometime, that we are ready to go on and win the IPL.”
Punjab Kings squad: Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Nehal Wadhera, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Marco Jansen, Josh Inglis, Lockie Ferguson, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harnoor Pannu, Kuldeep Sen, Priyansh Arya, Aaron Hardie, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Xavier Bartlett, Pyla Avinash and Pravin Dubey
Also Read : https://goworldwide.co.in/bgt-2024-25-sunil-gavaskar-warns-aussies/