IPL 2026: Ricky Ponting urges PBKS to draw confidence from last year

Ricky Ponting (Pic: PBKS)

Punjab Kings coach Ricky Ponting wants his team to draw confidence from their impressive performances last year. The PBKS reached the final of the tournament last year but lost to eventual winners Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the showpiece event.

Head coach Ricky Ponting has urged Punjab Kings players to be physically, technically and mentally sharp, while drawing confidence from their strong showing last season. Last year marked the first time in a decade the Punjab Kings reached the IPL final, and Ponting wants his team to maintain their good form.

"This is training, this is preparation. This is about getting ourselves physically, technically and mentally right for that first game on the 31st. "I want you to think back and think what you brought to this team last year, and that made us a good team," Ponting said.

The former Australian skipper further added that players should not be afraid to make mistakes and stick to the game plan. Ponting wants his PBKS players to take a brave approach to the game.

"We all make mistakes. That's fine. I will make mistakes on the way through this. You will all make mistakes, you'll drop a catch, you'll play bad shots, you'll bowl a bad over. But as long as you are sticking to what you know and what your game plan is, if you make a mistake, doing that in my eyes is not a mistake. It's just what happens in the game, it's a part of the game," Ponting added.

Punjab Kings will take on the Gujarat Titans in their season-opener at Mullanpur on March 31. Shreyas Iyer and his team will be keen to go one step further and win a maiden IPL title, after their run to the final last year.

Punjab Kings 2026 Squad

Shreyas Iyer (c), Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Lockie Ferguson, Xavier Bartlett, Ben Dwarshuis, Cooper Connolly, Harpreet Brar, Priyansh Arya, Musheer Khan, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Pravin Dubey, Harnoor Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Mitchell Owen, Pyla Avinash, Vishal Nishad.

(With PTI Input)