Punjab Kings raised quite a few eyebrows ahead of the upcoming mega auction after retaining only two players (uncapped) in the form of Shashank Singh (5.5 crore) and Prabhsimran Singh (4 crore).
Punjab’s decision to let go of international stars like Liam Livingstone, Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran, and Jonny Bairstow among others may seem strange but their newly-appointed head coach Ricky Ponting has labelled it as a thoughtful strategy.
“I’m most excited about a new, fresh start. It starts to come together today, with the retention list. It’s well documented as to what I’ve done with Punjab (Kings),” Ponting said during an interview with Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review.
“We’re only going in with two uncapped players and we’re going into the auction with the biggest purse by a long way. So, we’ve got the ability to put a whole squad of players together.”
One of the most successful captains of his time, Ponting wants Punjab “to be the most dynamic and most entertaining franchise” in the season to follow.
“A couple of new coaching staff come in as well (for Punjab Kings). The main and most important thing for me is making this whole franchise different. Making it different from outside, making the results on-field look different,” Ponting noted.
“I want us to be the most dynamic and most entertaining franchise and group of players in the IPL.”
The former Australia captain is no stranger to the coaching set-up as he has previously coached Delhi Capitals. He knows that Punjab have to zero in on the players they want ahead of the mega auction to build a strong core.
“This is where it gets exciting,” Ponting added. “You’ve got to understand who your number one target is and how much money you are willing to pay for them. That’s such a big part of it (IPL), of getting the auction right strategy-wise. And then handing it over to us, as a group of coaches.”