The hunger to win the Indian Premier League trophy is burning more than ever now for Shreyas Iyer, who is keen to do one better in the 2026 season, Punjab Kings’ head coach Ricky Ponting said on Monday. Having joined the franchise last year as their skipper, the Iyer-led PBKS topped the points table in the group stage and went on to qualify for the final, where they lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. “The level of play that we saw from him last year with the bat was probably as good as he’s ever had in an IPL and I can just see that hunger in his eyes probably burning more than ever now,” Ponting told the reporters. “Having got so close as a captain with a new team last year, I’m sure that he’s very keen to go one step better this year,” the head coach said on the eve of their season opener Gujarat Titans.
Looking back at their successful partnership for another franchise in the IPL having previously worked at Delhi Capitals, Ponting said they both think alike.
“We’ve worked together a lot now. We must have had maybe four or five years together at Delhi. When I got this role and realised that Shreyas was going into the mega auction, then I made sure I had enough money in my purse to be able to buy him at the auction,” Ponting said.
“I was really keen to work with Shreyas again (and) things worked out really quickly for us last year.” “We’ve both got very similar ideas and mantras on the game. It’s not uncommon for us to be walking towards one another with a thought in our mind, and we get together and it’s exactly the same thing that we go to think about,” Ponting added.
Ponting said the addition of Australia’s Cooper Connolly to the Punjab Kings gives the squad a lot more flexibility compared to what they had last year.
“With someone like Cooper Connolly coming into the squad, (it) gives us top order and middle order flexibility being a left-hander as well,” Ponting said.
“Last year, we had Priyansh (Arya) at the top and (Nehal) Wadhera in the middle. Someone like Cooper Connolly gives us a bit more flexibility through that batting order with left-hand, right-hand, if we decide to go that way.” The former Australian captain said Punjab Kings’ success in the last edition doesn’t mean anything going into a new season.
“Our level of cricket last year was good enough for us to finish on top of the table, but that doesn’t mean anything going into a new season,” Ponting said.
“I talked a lot last year about this team that we put together as being different and (playing) a really daring style and brand of cricket, and we’ve got to start that all over again. It’s nil-nil now for everybody,” he said.