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Ricky Ponting, ex-Australia captain and Punjab Kings coach, spoke about his experiences with the cricket-mad Indian fans.
Ricky Ponting. (PTI Photo)
Former Australia captain and Punjab Kings coach Ricky Ponting recently talked about his encounters with the cricket-mad fans in India, how ‘so many people’ want to click photos with him while traveling or ‘wish to grab’ his back and drop it to his hotel room. He said he has been able to ‘appreciate it more’ in recent times.
Ponting, an almost-hated figure among Indian fans due to his innumerable match-winning knocks against the Men in Blue during his playing days (like the 2003 World Cup), has found more love as a coach and pundit. He was the Delhi Capitals’ head coach for almost a decade and led them to their best seasons, though without a trophy. In 2024, he moved to the Kings and rebuilt them with some strong signings in the 2025 auction.
“When you’re in India, on most flights or when you check into a hotel, there are so many people around trying to have a picture or they wish to grab your bag to drop into your room. But it’s part and parcel of an Australian cricketer’s life when you visit India,” Ponting said on The Howie Games podcast.
“You appreciate it more when you understand how much it means to them. There are people of all different ages. I think doing commentary gigs in India has allowed a lot of that, as I have spent a lot of time in the country now. I have also been able to work with a lot of players who have talked reasonably highly about me in the media. I think people have learned a lot more about me since my playing days,” he added.
Speaking about his new franchise, Ponting said that going into the auction, he had three ‘non-negotiatble’ players he wanted to sign: skipper Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal.
“There were three players that I wanted to bring in. One who has been at Punjab Kings for three or four years—Arshdeep Singh. I also wanted to bring in a captain who I have worked with before and who has had a lot of success. So, we went after Shreyas Iyer. I also wanted to bring in Yuzi. So the Indian guys that we have are perfect,” he said.
“And then, we had to make a few tweaks as the auction went on to make sure we ended up with a really good squad. I am trying to make things different and rebuild and have the right people around me. But these three were non-negotiables,” the former Aussie international added.
The IPL 2025 is set to start in late March.
