Ricky Ponting on the verge of becoming head coach of THIS team ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League Season.
Ricky Ponting, the former captain of Australia, is almost finalising an agreement to join Punjab Kings of the Indian Premier League. At the time this story was published, neither party had provided confirmation, but the Australian icon—who had previously served as the Delhi Capitals’ head coach—had been in negotiations with the Punjab Kings squad and might have been getting close to an agreement.
Following a few years of lacklustre play, Ponting, who had been the Delhi Capitals’ head coach for seven years since joining the team in 2018, announced his departure from the team earlier this year. The Capitals had made it to the playoffs in 2019–2020 and 2021 under Ponting. The Delhi Capitals advanced to their first-ever IPL Final in 2020.
Punjab had earlier terminated the services of former head coach Trevor Bayliss this year. The ownership group believed that poor performances coupled with the team taking a new path meant that Bayliss’ services were no longer required.
It was also reported that the Kings were on the lookout for a domestic coach. With the talent pool of domestic players at their disposal, it was believed that hiring a domestic coach would take their trajectory and development to the next level.
Punjab have never made the playoffs since the 2014 edition, where they made the finals. They eventually ended up losing to the Kolkata Knight Riders in a high-scoring final.
With the potential coaching change and the mega auction coming up soon, the Punjab Kings will be hoping that this time the rebuild is on the right path and that they once again aim to challenge the established order of the IPL teams.