PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer points out signs that make Ricky Ponting "great coach"

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], June 2 (ANI): Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer pointed out that head coach Ricky Ponting stands out for treating everyone "equally," and the control he has over his emotions irrespective of the results is a sign of being a "great" coach ahead of their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Tuesday.

The duo worked together at the Delhi Capitals, guiding them to their maiden IPL final in 2020 against the Mumbai Indians. They reunited at PBKS, and Ponting and Shreyas's dynamic duo has turned Punjab into a match-winning machine.

With the duo operating at the helm, Punjab blazed its way to the IPL final for the first time in 11 years. Shreyas, who is on the verge of becoming the first captain to win titles with two different franchises, opened up about Ponting's impact in the Kings camp.

"Ricky Ponting, as we all know, he is an amazing player management. He is an amazing coach who manages the players precisely. And I personally feel that one thing that stands out with him is that he treats everyone equally. So that gives a real big boost to every individual, whether he is junior or a senior," Shreyas said in the pre-match press conference on the eve of the final.

"When you know that the coach is treating everyone equally, you are positive, and you get that freedom from within to go out there and express the best of your abilities. And I have never seen his emotions going up and down irrespective of the results, and that is the sign of a great coach," he added.

Shreyas has earned plaudits for his exceptional captaincy skills. The 30-year-old believes that leading a side is the best way to bring out his troops' best performance.

"I feel that the role of captaincy is that you have to get the best out of your players in terms of performance. And when we got a start in this tournament, we got it with two victories. So we got momentum from the start, and after that, every individual kept stepping up. Like, there are a lot of youngsters in our team, you also get to see their fearless nature. Right from ball one, they were dictating their turns, and they are still doing it," he said.

"It's not like there is a step-up in every match, and they say that they will win the match, and that has happened. So, because of all these reasons, I feel that our season has been consistent till now. And like you said, we got a start here, and now we are in the final. So I am very excited, and there is a lot of positivity inside," he added. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)