Punjab Kings confirmed their top-two spot in the ongoing IPL season with a magnificent win against the Mumbai Indians. It was Shashank Singh, who guaranteed and predicted that Punjab Kings will qualify in top two on a Podcast a couple of months ago and here we are with PBKS in the first qualifier.
Punjab Kings batter Shashank Singh credited head coach Ricky Ponting and captain Shreyas Iyer for bringing a change in the team culture, which has borne fruit with the side qualifying for top two in the playoffs in the ongoing IPL season. Since taking the charge of ‘Project Punjab’, Ponting was adamant in changing a few things as to how the team is run, how players and everyone from support staff to the media crew to the baggage handlers are brought on the same page and running the team how he wanted to and it seems it has worked.
Shashank Singh, who had a bit of Brian Lara rubbing onto him during his Sunrisers Hyderabad days, has become an inseparable part of the Punjab Kings’ side and mentioned that Ricky Ponting joined the list of his favourite coaches.
“By far the best team coach I’ve ever played. I’ve mentioned two names before, Brian Lara Sir, and now I’m mentioning Ricky Ponting sir because he has changed the team culture, he has changed our mindset, he has changed our belief. So all those things, the credit has to be to him because obviously he’s the one who changed our perspective towards the game,” Shashank said at the press conference after PBKS’ win against the Mumbai Indians in Jaipur.
Shashank mentioned that its cliched that most of the players say it when a new leader and a coach come into the side, changing certain things but when pressed onto it, Shashank went into it explaining the same a bit more.
“Caring about each other, respecting each other, feeling happy in each other’s performance. I mean, it’s very easy to say all these things and obviously you need to do this, you need to do that. But again, building it is a different thing. So he made sure that.
“Day 1, he and Shreyas, both told us, they will treat Yuzi Chahal, the most senior player, and a bus driver, the same. I mean, this is something and they’ve maintained this, they’ve maintained this that they’ve given the same respect to Yuzi Chahal, and they’ve given the same respect to our bus driver. So this says a lot about the team,” Shashank further added.
The Ponting-Iyer reunion has become one of the stories of the season and the IPL. The duo helped Delhi make their only IPL final ever and now have taken Punjab Kings to within touching distance of their maiden trophy. The Kings are set to play the first qualifier in front of their home fans.
