A couple of months after Ricky Ponting ended his seven-year stint at Delhi Capitals, the three-time ODI World Cup winning Australian was on Wednesday unveiled as the new head coach of the Punjab Kings from Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

Ponting has been appointed for the next four seasons replacing fellow Australian Trevor Bayliss, under whom the franchise finished at the penultimate ninth spot in the 2024 season, and it is understood that the legendary batter will take the final call on the rest of the support staff.

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The Kings have Sanjay Bangar (head of cricket development), Charl Langeveldt (fast-bowling coach) and Sunil Joshi (spin-bowling coach) in the support staff besides Ponting. The legendary Australian batter will be the third head coach in four seasons at Kings, who have failed to qualify for the IPL playoffs since 2014, when they finished runners-up.

Announcing the signing of Ponting, Satish Menon, CEO of the Kings said, “We are delighted to have Ricky on to guide and build our team for the next 4 seasons. His experience is crucial to help us develop a squad to deliver on-field success. His insights from his international coaching stints and as a television pundit would be vital in identifying talent ahead of the mega auction this year. His ability to develop cricketing and leadership skills will play a crucial role in our success.”

For Ponting, the primary challenge would be shortlisting players who could be potentially retained for the next season even as the franchises wait for the IPL to finalise the retention rules. Also with Shikhar Dhawan, recently announcing his retirement, the 49-year-old Aussie will be tasked to identify a new captain to lead the team.

“I am excited to take up the new challenge. I had great conversations with the owners and the management about the way forward and was truly elated to see the alignment of our visions for the team. We all want to repay the fans who have stayed with the franchise over the years and we promise that they will see a much different Punjab Kings going forward,” Ponting said.

For Punjab, their key performers include Harshal Patel, who grabbed the Purple Cap for the second time last season, and the uncapped power-hitting duo of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma. They also have India’s T20 World Cup-winning left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh and wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, who even led the side in a few games last season. PBKS also possess a healthy bunch of overseas options – England’s Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Johnny Bairstow and South African quick Kagiso Rabada.

Ponting has been part of the IPL set-up since the inaugural season in 2008, first as a player at Kolkata Knight Riders followed by Mumbai Indians where he stepped down as captain midway through the 2013 season, paving way for Rohit Sharma to take over. Mumbai won the title the same year, with Ponting continuing in an advisory role in 2014 and then serving as head coach for two seasons in 2015 and 2016.

In 2018, Ponting took charge as head coach of Capitals who made the playoffs for three successive seasons between 2019 and 2021, during which period they qualified for the first IPL final in 2020. After ending his association with the Capitals in July, Ponting served as head coach during Washington Freedom’s title-winning campaign in the 2024 season of Major League Cricket. He also has been the head of strategy for the Hobart Hurricanes in Australia’s Big Bash League since 2021.