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Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting’s captain-coach partnership led Punjab Kings IPL 2025 final, showcasing strong camaraderie and leadership.
PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer (left) with head coach Ricky Ponting (BCCI Photo)
Several captain-coach partnerships in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are still remembered and admired. The likes of Dhoni-Fleming, Pandya-Nehra, Rohit-Jayawardene have proven records, but their one duo that has been phenomenal, but unfortunately, are yet to lay their hands on the IPL trophy.
Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting form a captain-coach duo that has guided not one, but two franchises to the IPL final—only to fall short on both occasions. In 2020, they led the Delhi Capitals to their maiden final, where they were defeated by the Mumbai Indians. More recently, the pair reunited at Punjab Kings, revitalised the side, and took them to the final, but once again ended as runners-up, this time against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Though the title is yet to decorate their camaraderie, both respect each other’s way of looking at the game. Iyer opened up on Ponting’s way of coaching in a podcast, saying that the former Australian captain makes everyone comfortable in the team.
“Once you have a good coach, a positive coach, it’s his job to get all the players together and build that form of camaraderie. The gelling that we get together before the matches or the tournaments, it is basically given by the coach,” Iyer said in The Quest Talk podcast on YouTube.
“This year, when Ricky came in as the coach, he made everyone comfortable. He instilled the sense that every player belonged to this franchise. He was open and honest about whatever he said.”
“So, once you get that sort of feedback from your coach that you can come back and perform at the best of your abilities, you’re confident enough, and at the back of your mind, you feel very comfortable in the resting room and you can interact with everyone,” he added.
The Iyer-Ponting duo did wonder for Punjab as they made it to their first IPL final since 2014. However, they fell short by 6 runs in the chase of 191.
A cricket enthusiast whose dreams of playing for India paved the way for a compelling journey in journalism. With a comprehensive coverage spanning international and domestic cricket across formats, I have had …Read More
A cricket enthusiast whose dreams of playing for India paved the way for a compelling journey in journalism. With a comprehensive coverage spanning international and domestic cricket across formats, I have had … Read More
September 07, 2025, 13:44 IST
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