Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Punjab Kings pulled off a historic run chase against Delhi Capitals, and head coach Ricky Ponting made it clear that skipper Shreyas Iyer was at the heart of the victory. Chasing a massive 265, Punjab showed belief throughout, with Iyer calmly guiding the team home with an unbeaten 71.Ponting didn’t hold back in praising his captain and explained why he had pushed hard to bring Iyer into the team. “He’s a great person. And that’s the reason that I went as hard as I did in the auction. I knew he was going to be a great leader and for us to rebuild this team and rebuild this franchise,” he said.
Punjab got off to a flying start thanks to Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya, whose aggressive batting set the tone early in the chase. Their partnership gave the team momentum, and Iyer made sure it didn’t go to waste by staying till the end.Ponting revealed his confidence in Iyer during the chase. “Because one thing I know is that if he’s in at the end in a run chase, we’re not going to lose too many games. And even tonight, I went out at the 11, 12 over mark. I just grabbed hold of him and said, if you’re in at the end, we’ll win the game. And he did it again,” he added.Ponting also praised the opening pair, saying, “And the partnership that he (Prabhsimran) and Priyansh have together is pretty amazing. They complement each other really well. Left hand, right hand. Both hit different parts of the ground.”Despite the record chase, he pointed out areas needing improvement. “It’s satisfying that you’ve got the highest run chase, but to have the highest run chase, you’ve also got to concede a lot of runs. So we’ve got some work to do with our bowling and our fielding,” he said.He also spoke about mentoring young players like Prabhsimran. “At the end of the day, I’m a teacher… Thankfully, he’s listening and getting the job done.”
