New Delhi: Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting admitted that while the team will celebrate their seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians on Monday night, they will also be reminded that their mission is not yet complete.
PBKS showcased a ruthless chase led by fifties from Priyansh Arya and Josh Inglis, which secured a top two spot in the IPL points table and marked their first playoff appearance since 2014.
Ponting reflected on the season’s transformation under his leadership, starting with the auction, and credited the aggressive young batting core. As a serial winner, he emphasized the importance of converting a successful league season into a strong playoff performance.
“Very pleased, lot of hard work goes into achieving this. Starts from the auction, big thing for me was to come to a new franchise and make a difference straightaway. It’s obvious to see that it’s a quality team, heading in the same direction. We haven’t done anything yet, that’s what I’ve been telling players, the big games are to come. Prabhsimran is 23-24 and has got 500 runs, I said maybe four or five games in that Priyansh is one of the finds of the tournament.
“Hard to argue with now. Fearless young talent seeing and hitting the ball. Overseas players – Inglis, Stoinis have been great. Shreyas has been outstanding. We’re a happy group, enjoyed each other’s company ten weeks, got one more to go. Pretty obvious I was keen to work with Shreyas considering how much I spent at the auction. We had a good working relationship in Delhi. I’ve known him from a long time. He’s a quality person. It’s what you need when you need to form a culture,” said Ponting in the post-game chat with broadcasters.
With this win, Punjab have virtually confirmed the first spot, thanks to their superior run-rate over RCB, who can level PBKS on points if they win against LSG on Wednesday.
The team is also concerned about the absence of Marco Jansen for the playoffs, but Ponting believes they have the depth to cover for the proteas pacer, who will be a “big miss” for his side.
“Arshdeep’s great, Chahal should be back. If you speak to players individually, they’ll give Shreyas a good rap. We’ll celebrate tonight, we’ve done that after every game apart from the last one due to the short turnaround. Got a late afternoon flight tomorrow, we’ll work out where our training slots fit. We’ll rest players up. Jansen is a high-quality individual, tough to replace him. Got Jamieson in tonight to ensure he got a game before Marco left. Every team’s missing players, we’d like to think we’ve got good depth and be able to cover for Marco despite it being a big miss,” he added.
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