Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra had made a big prediction about the Punjab Kings team. Chopra believes that Ponting will bring more Australian players into the team and several English players will be dropped.
Punjab Kings have been one of the worst performing teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the years. The team has struggled to find its rhythm in every season and has not even qualified for the playoffs since 2014.
The core of their overseas contingent is usually made up of a number of English players. Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone and Chris Woakes were all part of the squad last season. Of these players, Bairstow, Curran and Livingstone were regulars in the starting XI.
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“There won’t be that many English players there,” says Aakash Chopra on PBKS with Ricky Ponting
But the Kings have signed Ricky Ponting as their head coach. As a result, Aakash Chopra believes Ponting could bring in more Australian players as he knows them well.
The former India opener feels England’s huge gathering of star players will be wiped out in the upcoming mega auctions.
“What can we expect from Ricky Ponting? First of all, I think the concentration of English players there will be removed. All those who have been bought for 18 or 12 crore rupees will be sent. Now there will not be so many English players there. Now there will be some changes. Now there will be Australian players there,” Chopra said.
The cricketer-turned-commentator even predicted that some of the Delhi Capitals players who will be released could find their new home at Punjab Kings. He expects Ponting to increasingly look to Australian players.
“You will see Australian players from the Delhi Capitals team being released and some of them will be part of Ricky Ponting’s Punjab Kings. I am not saying I am biased but wherever you see Ricky, you will find a slightly bigger Australian contingent because he knows them well,” he added.
Several Australian players were a constant for Delhi Capitals when Ricky Ponting was the head coach of the franchise. Some of those names are David Warner, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith and Jake Fraser-McGurk.
Aakash Chopra on the habit of Punjabi kings to make changes
Aakash Chopra also spoke about Punjab Kings’ constant habit of making too many changes in their team, which does not allow them to settle down. He spoke about Ricky Ponting becoming the franchise’s 11th head coach.
“Change is the only constant, but the one thing that hasn’t changed is their luck. They’ve made the playoffs and the final, but they’ve never lifted the trophy. Have they not won the trophy because they’ve made too many changes or have they been forced to make changes because they haven’t won the trophy? It’s a chicken and egg situation. Ricky Ponting is their 11th manager,” he said.
Ricky Ponting was appointed head coach of Punjab Kings just a few days ago. Ponting is believed to have the final say over the rest of the coaching staff.
The legendary Australian captain will have some work to do ahead of the mega auctions as the Punjab Kings aim to put together a solid team from now on.
Prior to joining Punjab Kings, Ponting was the head coach of Delhi Capitals for seven seasons in the IPL.
However, he was removed from his post after the franchise failed to deliver the desired results. During his tenure, DC made it to the IPL playoffs in 2019, 2020 and 2021.