Ricky Ponting lauds Nehal Wadhera for "putting pressure back" on the Royals, as Kings qualify for playoffs after 11 years

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], May 19 (ANI): With a stunning victory against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) the Punjab Kings (PBKS) have booked their berth in the playoffs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

Following this hard-fought victory in the match on Sunday, head coach Ricky Ponting addressed the Kings in the dressing room, lauding their resilience.

In his address, Ponting stressed how the players have adopted a simple yet effective approach since the beginning of the tournament, playing their natural game despite the situation.

Expressing his happiness with the batting unit, who put 219/5 on the board for the Royals to chase, Ponting specifically praised Nehal Wadhera for his brilliant performance, scoring 70 runs off just 37 balls.

"What you did was manage to put pressure back on them straight away. You have to do that in this format, right? You had a great partnership with Shreyas. I actually said to him at one of the timeouts that because you're so good, you can find a way to score runs, be out there in a partnership, and you ended up putting on 67 off 44 balls," the head coach was cited as saying in a statement by PBKS.

"Shashank (Singh), awesome again. Every time you have been confronted with something in the tournament, you have found a way to get it done," he added while praising Shashank Singh for his unbeaten knock of 59 runs.

The former Australian captain then applauded the bowlers for managing to defend the score of 219, with a special focus on Harpreet Brar, who clinched three major wickets while conceding just 22 runs.

"You and Dubey have bowled more than anybody here over the last eight weeks. You put in the hard work, you get a chance, and it yields results. So, personally, all your teammates and coaches couldn't be happier that you got the chance to make an impact, and you made an impact by registering figures of 3/22 in four overs and grabbing all big wickets. Well done!," said Ponting.

The Kings will next face the Delhi Capitals (DC) on May 24 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. (ANI)

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