Shortly after his appointment as head coach of Punjab Kings (PBKS) for IPL 2025, Ricky Ponting discussed his departure from Delhi Capitals (DC). He revealed that his availability became an issue for the franchise, which sought a full-time head coach.
Ponting's seven-year tenure with DC ended, and he now steps into the role with PBKS, the third head coach in four seasons for a team that hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2014. One of his key responsibilities will be to identify players for retention before the upcoming mega-auction.
In an interview with ESPNCricinfo, Ponting expressed pride in fostering a "family environment" at DC. He noted, "I understand what they want; they said my availability was becoming an issue, and they wanted a full-time head coach. I couldn't commit to that, so I was disappointed, but I understand their direction." He added that many within the franchise were saddened by his departure.
Ponting acknowledged the pressure of winning a trophy, stating that it energizes him as a coach. "That pressure is what makes coaching inviting to me. It’s the closest I can get to playing again," he said. He emphasized his competitive spirit, saying, "A cricket changing room is where I'm supposed to be.
Ponting called coaching Mumbai Indians an "awesome experience" while also adding that DC changing room was a "special place" even without a trophy.
"But we made a couple of big slip-ups in our mega-auction a couple of years ago [2022] and even probably our player retentions, and that set us back quite a way. And even this year [2024], little things went against us again, with Rishabh [Pant, DC captain] being suspended for a game that we had to win. We missed the playoffs on run rate. Little things like that add up. The results in T20 games are decided by really small margins. And then our season can be defined by really small margins as well. And we have been on the wrong end of those for a couple of years at DC," he remarked.
On the evolution of coaching in the IPL, Ponting said it has become more specific now and teams are covering every base by appointing coaches for different roles."So you have a lot of the best coaches in the world there at once. And when you have the best coaches and the best players, you are guaranteed to have high-quality cricket. What the IPL has done by having all of these coaches is, I think, the reason that India are actually as good as they are. There has always been that talent in India, but to have that talent around the best coaches for two or three months every year has helped them become better players," he concluded.
