Ricky Ponting ‘endorsed’ Shreyas Iyer as captain to Indian selectors, Punjab Kings coach to have ‘chat’ with new leader

Shreyas has broken down the door in terms of his own performance. The IPL 2024 saw him winning the title with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as the skipper, and he backed it up by taking Punjab Kings to the final in the very next season. He scored 604 runs in his first season with PBKS and 498 runs in IPL 2026, including a century.

His sensational run coincided with Suryakumar Yadav's poor form, and a below-par IPL 2026 resulted in the T20 World Cup-winning captain being shown the door. Ponting believes that Shreyas will do a phenomenal job as the captain of the Men in Blue.

“And he's certainly a better captain now, a better leader, and probably a more mature and more well-rounded person now. So yeah, I think it's great recognition. I think he'll do a terrific job. And when you think of some of the other candidates, I mean, it's full credit to him that he's the captain now because there are a lot of other great players in India. We know there are many great players in the current Indian team. And that team has had great success over the last few years as well. So for them to name him as captain, I think it's great recognition and great reward,” he added.

"So, yeah, I'm absolutely thrilled for him. Now that it's official, I'll actually give him a call and have a chat with him and congratulate him and make sure that he makes the most of it and understands the enormity of the role that he's been given,” Ponting said.

"I think that's probably one of the big things that the Indian selectors have looked at, just how he's handled himself under pressure. Because it's, you know, when you're captain of India, it's a high-pressure job. And I think, you know, more often than not, Shreyas has always found a way to play well in those big pressure moments. So I think as a player, he'll be fine,” he added.

Shreyas and Ponting's association goes a long way and the latter has been fond of the India middle-order batter since the Delhi Capitals days. Shreyas had also taken Delhi to their one and only IPL final in 2020 as well.

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