PBKS Head Coach Ricky Ponting Thrilled with Strong Squad, Claims 'Auction Couldn’t Have Gone Better'

Chandigarh, Nov 28 (NationPress) As the Punjab Kings' management crafted a successful squad during the IPL 2025 mega auction, head coach Ricky Ponting expressed his satisfaction with the team's auction performance and acknowledged the valuable contributions from analysts and scouts, stating 'it couldn’t have gone much better'.

Entering the auction, PBKS had retained only two players and held a maximum budget of Rs 110.5 crore, aiming to construct a team from the ground up with new head coach Ponting at the helm. They secured Arshdeep Singh by opting to use their Right-to-Match (RTM) card in response to the Sunrisers Hyderabad's final bid of Rs 18 crore.

The Kings made headlines by acquiring the former IPL-winning captain Shreyas Iyer for an impressive Rs 26.75 crore, making him the second most expensive acquisition of the auction after Rishabh Pant, who fetched a staggering Rs 27 crore from the 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 remarked.

PBKS' third most significant purchase was Yuzvendra Chahal, the only player in IPL history to achieve 200 wickets, for Rs 18 crore. They also brought in Australian all-rounders Marcus Stoinis for Rs 11 crore and Glenn Maxwell for Rs 4.20 crore.

Reflecting on the successful auction, co-owner Ness Wadia recognized Ponting's contributions, stating, '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 expressed her delight with the team's auction performance, saying, '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 ninety 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 emphasized the new strategy for the Punjab Kings and was pleased with the squad additions. '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.