File image of Ricky Ponting and Shreyas Iyer© BCCI
India batter Shreyas Iyer said he is eager to brainstorm alongside Ricky Ponting once again in the Punjab Kings set-up for IPL 2025, and recalled of how he shared a great camaraderie with the legendary Australia skipper previously in the tournament. Ponting and Iyer were head coach and captain in the Delhi Capitals’ for three seasons, where the side once finished as runners-up in 2020. But with Ponting named as Punjab’s head coach earlier this year and the franchise acquiring Iyer for INR 26.75 crore in the auction at Jeddah last month all but sealed their reunion.
“I can understand what the feelings must be among the fans. With Ricky coming in, we have shared a great camaraderie from the past. We would be putting our thinking caps on and brainstorming on many aspects. Hopefully, we will deliver from the match one.”
“Super excited to be part of Punjab Kings. I cannot wait to join the Punjab Kings family. It’s been a great year for me to win four trophies. My main goal is to win the IPL trophy for Punjab,” said Iyer in the franchise’s statement on Saturday.
Iyer comes into Punjab set-up on the back of captaining Kolkata Knight Riders to IPL 2024 title and recently leading Mumbai to their second Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy title in Bengaluru. In Mumbai’s triumphant campaign, Iyer scored 345 runs in nine innings, including a century and fifty.
“Surreal feeling after winning Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. A lot of hard work took place behind the scenes. The boys were tremendous with their performance. Now we are done with this part,” added Iyer. His next assignment is now playing for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy league matches, starting on Saturday in Ahmedabad.
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