PBKS coach Ponting delighted with strong squad, says ‘auction couldn’t have gone much better’

Chandigarh, Nov 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) As Punjab Kings' think tank assembled a squad built for success at the end of the IPL 2025 mega auction, head coach Ricky Ponting was delighted with the team's performance at the auction table and credited the analysts and scouts for their efforts, saying "it couldn't have gone much better".

PBKS came into the auction having retained just two players and a maximum purse of Rs 110.5 crore, aiming to build from scratch with new head coach Ponting in charge. They snapped Arshdeep Singh after deciding to exercise their Right-to-Match (RTM) card against the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s final bid of Rs 18 crore.

Kings broke the bank for the former IPL-winning captain Shreyas Iyer and bagged him for a whopping Rs 26.75 crore, the second most expensive purchase of the auction after Rishabh Pant, who was sold for a jaw-dropping price of Rs 27 crore to Lucknow Super Giants.

"The auction has gone great. It probably couldn't have gone much better, to be honest. It's been a lot of work and a lot of team effort. The analysts have done a terrific job, providing me with much information on the local players. Obviously, I know a lot about the overseas guys," Ponting said.

PBKS' third biggest buy was Yuzvednra Chahal, the only player to take 200 wickets in the IPL history, for Rs 18 crore. Then, they bagged the Australian all-rounder duo of Marcus Stoinis (Rs 11 crore) and Gelnn Maxwell (Rs 4.20 crore).

While reflecting on successful auctions, Ness Wadia, co-owner of the team, acknowledged the contribution made by Ponting. He said, "It's a pleasure to sit next to Ricky and learn so much, even with the analysts, Saurabh and Ashish. It was a great team effort. They put in at least 200-300 hours in the last month and a half. So, all the hard work pays off, and now we get to the important part: playing."

Co-owner Preity Zinta, delighted with the team's performance over the two days of the auction and said, "Auctions are always very dynamic, but if you get over ninety per cent of the players you wanted, then it's a fantastic auction. We did get over ninty per cent of the players we wanted. It was bittersweet because we had to let go of certain players. That was our calculation: if we go with a clean slate with the least retention and the highest purse, we get the flexibility to do something completely different.

She reiterated the new approach for the Punjab Kings and was pleased with the additions to the squad. "This season, we have a new approach, a new coach, a new stadium, and there's new hope. Some former players are back. We have Stoinis, we have Maxi, we have Arsh. Arsh, of course, is Punjabi as well. We've also got Nehal, who is from Punjab. We've got Harnoor as well. It was very important for us to get players from our catchment, young talents," she concluded.

Punjab Kings full squad: Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Harpreet Brar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Marco Jansen, Josh Inglis, Lockie Ferguson, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harnoor Pannu, Kuldeep Sen, Priyansh Arya, Aaron Hardie, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Xavier Bartlett, Pyla Avinash, Pravin Dubey, Nehal Wadhera.

Source: IANS