Former Australian national cricket team captain Ricky Ponting has been appointed as the head coach of Punjab Kings. The franchise confirmed the news on Wednesday (September 18) through a social media post.

The decision to appoint Ricky Ponting as their head coach comes ahead of the mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. This will undoubtedly be a huge boost for the franchise as the former captain of the Australia national cricket team is one of the sharpest cricketing brains out there.

The Punjab Kings head coach’s post fell vacant after the franchise parted ways with Trevor Bayliss. The franchise entered into talks with Ponting after he was sacked as the Delhi Capitals head coach after the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has been with the Delhi-based franchise since 2018.

Under Ponting, Delhi Capitals reached their first ever final in 2020, before losing to Mumbai Indians. The former Australian national cricket team captain is one of the best coaches around and also recently won the Major League Cricket (MLC) title with Washington Freedom.

Ponting, known for his discipline as a coach and mentor, has signed a four-year contract with Punjab Kings. He will remain with the franchise till 2028 and has been given full authority to form the coaching staff.

Ricky Ponting will be Punjab Kings’ sixth head coach in the last seven seasons. The franchise has struggled to find consistency in the league and is one of three teams not to have won a league title. They finished ninth last season and have not made the IPL playoffs since their second-place finish in 2014.

I am thankful to Punjab Kings for presenting me with the opportunity to be the new head coach – Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting, speaking about his appointment as the head coach of Punjab Kings, said that he is grateful to have received the opportunity. He revealed that he discussed the roadmap with the owners and management and promised that the fans would see a completely different team in the future. Speaking about this, he said:

“I am grateful to Punjab Kings for giving me the opportunity to be the new head coach. I am excited to take on this new challenge.

He added: “I had some great conversations with the owners and management about the way forward and was really delighted to see the alignment of our visions for the team.

“We all want to reward the fans who stuck with the franchise all these years and we promise that they will see a very different Punjab Kings in the future.”

Going into IPL 2024, Punjab Kings will have to start from scratch. They don’t have a captain, and Shikhar Dhawan has decided to call it a day. Ricky Ponting’s first challenge will be to bring in the group of players who can help the team win.