Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra had made a big prediction in the Punjab Kings squad. Chopra believes that Ponting will bring more Australian players into the squad and no. English players will be suspended.
Punjab Kings have been one of the underperforming teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the years. The team has struggled to find a rhythm in any season and hasn’t even qualified for the playoffs since 2014.
The basis of their contingent abroad is usually absent. From England players. Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone and Chris Woakes were part of the squad last season. Of these players, Bairstow, Curran and Livingstone were regulars in the Playing XI.
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“You won’t have that many English players there” – Aakash Chopra on PBKS under Ricky Ponting
But Kings have now brought in Ricky Ponting as their head coach. As a result, Aakash Chopra feels that Ponting can bring in more Australian players as he knows them well.
The former India opener believes that a huge collection of star England players will be snapped up in the upcoming mega auctions.
“What are you going to expect from Ricky Ponting? First, I feel the collection of English players over there will be eliminated. All will be sent, those bought for 18 million or 12 million. Now you won’t have so many English players there. Now. There will be a bit of a change there, now there will be an Australian there will be players,” Chopra believes.
The cricketer-turned-commentator even predicted that some of the Delhi Capitals players who will be released could find a new home at Punjab Kings. He expects Ponting to follow more and more Australian players.
“You will see that the Australian players in the Delhi Capitals camp will be released and some of them will be part of Ricky Ponting’s Punjab Kings. I’m not saying he’s biased, but wherever you see Ricky, you’ll find a slightly bigger Australian contingent there because he’s got them he knows well”, he added.
A no. A number of Australian players were a regular part of Delhi Capitals when Ricky Ponting was the head coach of the franchise. Some of these names include David Warner, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith and Jake Fraser-McGurk.
Aakash Chopra on Punjab Kings’ habit of making changes
Aakash Chopra also spoke about Punjab Kings’ constant habit of making too many changes in their team which does not allow them to settle. He talked about the fact that Ricky Ponting is the 11th head coach of the franchise.
“Change is the only constant, but the only thing that hasn’t changed is their fortunes. They’ve been to the playoffs and the finals, but they’ve never lifted the cup. They didn’t win the cup because they made too many changes, or they had to. To change because they didn’t win the cup is a chicken-and-egg situation. Ricky Ponting is their 11th coach,” he said.
Ricky Ponting was appointed as the head coach of Punjab Kings just a few days ago. Ponting is expected to make the final call on the rest of the coaching staff.
The legendary Australian skipper will have some work to do ahead of the mega auctions as Punjab Kings aim to build a solid team thereafter.
Before joining Punjab Kings, Ponting was the head coach of Delhi Capitals for seven seasons in the IPL.
But he was dropped from the role as the franchise failed to get the desired results from him. During his tenure, DC made it to the IPL playoffs in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
