Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting has lauded his team's resilience and determination following their commanding victory over high-flying Mumbai Indians, which secured them a top-two finish and a spot in Qualifier. The win underscores consistent performance throughout the season, positioning them as strong contenders for the IPL title.
"I'm obviously very pleased for the group. It's a lot of hard work that goes into being able to achieve something like this as a team," Ponting said after PBKS's win over MI.
"I think it's pretty obvious to see that this is a really talented team that are all on the same page and heading in the same direction. I mean yeah, it's a great achievement till now, but really, if you look back, we haven't achieved anything yet. That's the one thing I've been saying to the players since the moment we qualified. The vision for me was always to finish in the top two, and we've got there now. It's a really happy group and we've enjoyed our time in each other's company for the last ten weeks, but we've got another week to go yet."
Ponting also praised PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer for his incredible leadership.
"I was pretty keen to work with him again. It was pretty obvious that how much money I was willing to spend on him at the auction. We had a great working relationship in Delhi; we made a final in Delhi under his captaincy.
"I've known him as a person and as a player for a long time. He's a quality person, and when you've got quality people around your team when you're trying to make a difference and you're trying to change culture, that's what you need. If you spoke to the players individually, I think every single one of them would give Shreyas a great rap because he has spent a lot of time with them."
"He's pumped them up, he's given them a pat on the back when they needed it, and he's given them a kick in the pants when they've needed it as well, which is a sign of a really good and strong leader."