Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting has spotlighted his team’s “never-say-die” mentality after PBKS transformed what looked like a painful start into a convincing win over Sunrisers Hyderabad. The match began in bleak fashion for the Punjab bowlers, who leaked more than 100 runs in the first eight overs, yet the side steadied itself to rein in SRH to 219/6. PBKS then carried that momentum into the chase and sealed the target with six wickets to spare in emphatic style.
Speaking on the franchise’s “Dressing Room Diaries” segment, Ponting said, “What we talk about around this team all the time is how hard we are going to be to beat. When we’re behind, we’re going to find a way to fight and fight and fight until we get ourselves back into the game. We turned what looked like being an ugly day into a really positive one.”
Ponting also praised a bold call from captain Shreyas Iyer, who brought part-time option Shashank Singh into the attack to spark PBKS’s turnaround. In Ponting’s view, the decision changed the tempo and helped the bowling unit regain control. “A really brave decision from the skipper to bring Shashank into the attack, take the pace off the ball, and try and take some air out of it. (To the bowlers) I can hardly find a fault in anything we did for the rest of the game. That is some serious fightback,” Ponting added.
With the chase in mind, Ponting pointed to the platform built during the power-play, where PBKS amassed 93 runs. He singled out Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh for their fearless intent against the brand-new ball, saying their approach gave the innings the right shape from the outset.
“Seeing Prabh and Priyansh go out and take the game on the way that they do feels so great. They do it with so much class. Looking at the matchups, Priyansh taking the first ball — against a left-arm spinner — is exactly the match-up he wants. On the other hand, Prabh taking on Unadkat with the new ball in the second over… we got 93 at the end of the powerplay. It was an unbelievable opening partnership,” Ponting said.
Punjab Kings will now take on five-time champions Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on April 16.
