Ricky Ponting was appointed as the new head coach of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Wednesday. The former Australia captain will take charge of the team from next season and will continue to build the team for next four seasons. The development takes place two months after he ended his association with the Delhi Capitals, thus ending his seven-year tenure at the franchise.
Ponting has penned a multi-year contract with the franchise. However, there is no clarity about who will be retained from the existing coaching staff, which feature Trevor Bayliss (head coach), Sanjay Bangar (head of cricket development), Charl Langveldt (fast-bowling coach), Sunil Joshi (spin-bowling coach).
Ponting will be the sixth head coach in seven seasons at the franchise, who finished second last in the previous edition. Punjab Kings have so far endured a torrid run in cash-rich league and have not qualified for the playoffs since 2014.
Expressing his delight at joining Punjab Kings, Ponting said: "I am grateful to Punjab Kings for presenting me with the opportunity to be the new head coach. I am excited to take up the new challenge. I had great conversations with the owners and the management about the way forward and was truly elated to see the alignment of our visions for the team. We all want to repay the fans who have stayed with the franchise over the years and we promise that they will see a much different Punjab Kings going forward."
Ponting's first task at the franchise will be to identify the players who will be retained ahead of mega auction. The retention rules are yet to be finalised by the IPL. If we look at the players, Harshal Patel and Shashank Singh had a promising outing last time around. While Harshal won the Purple Cap, which was his second in IPL, Shashank showcased his batting prowess on multiple occasions. Punjab also have the likes of Arshdeep Singh, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma among other Indian players. If we switch focus to foreigners, the team enjoys the services of England trio of Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Johnny Bairstow and South Africa quick Kagiso Rabada.
Ponting has been involved with the IPL since its inception, which was back in 2008. He initially took part in the league as a player, featuring for Kolkata Knight Riders and then Mumbai Indians. He also served as the head coach for the Mumbai franchise for two seasons (2015 and 2016).
In 2018, Ponting was named as the head coach of Delhi Capitals, following which he guided the side to the playoffs in three successive seasons, which was between 2019 and 2021.
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