Punjab Kings (PBKS) head coach Ricky Ponting believes his side enters IPL 2026 "stronger" than last year, with added depth and flexibility strengthening an already well-balanced side. PBKS, who finished top of the league stage with 19 points last season, came so close to winning their first-ever title, and Ponting hopes PBKS play better than they did then.
"I don't think there are too many gaps now," Ponting said ahead of PBKS' first match of the season, against Gujarat Titans. "I saw it last year. I think I saw it was really well-balanced last year. I think, once again, if you look at our entire squad make-up, we've got the players that we want in certain roles, but we've also got a back-up player for most of those players right the way down to our 25th player. So I just think overall, we should be stronger.
"Our level of cricket last year was good enough for us to finish on top of the table, but that doesn't mean anything going into a new season. I talked a lot last year about this team that we put together as being different and a really daring style and brand of cricket, and we've got to start that all over again."
With a largely settled side, PBKS did not have to do much at the auction. They bought young Australian allrounder Cooper Connolly, who is expected to play at No. 3 this season, and Ponting explained how his inclusion helps achieve balance in the squad.
"I think with someone like Cooper Connolly coming into the squad give us top order and middle order flexibility, [him] being a left-hander as well. Last year, we had Priyansh [Arya] at the top and [Nehal] Wadhera in the middle. Someone like Cooper Connolly gives us a bit more flexibility through that batting order with left-hand-right-hand, if we decide to go that way.
"It's nil-nil now for everybody. We need to start well tomorrow, we need to play well at our home ground, but I honestly feel that we've got a better squad than we had last year. Our younger players, as I said, are more experienced, and I think the overseas players that we've brought in this year are better than the squad that we had last year."
A key talking point ahead of the season has been how PBKS will replace Josh Inglis, who played a key role for them late in the tournament. But Ponting pointed to multiple options, including new overseas recruits.
"We've got others as well that we can use up there. Suryansh [Shedge], he might move up there, play a similar role. But we've got those two overseas guys there, Cooper Connolly and Mitch Owen, that I've seen be ultra destructive at the top of the order for their respective BBL teams over the last couple of years. So we've got a number of options that we could use.
"It might even be down to what the wicket looks like. If it looks like it's got a little bit of grass on it and might have good pace and bounce, that might make it that little bit easier for the overseas guys. If it's a bit drier and lower and slower, it might make it easier for an Indian player to play in that role. So we've got lots of options, lots of flexibility with our game. Someone like Marco Jansen has probably played number 8 for us. So the batting depth is there and we'll shuffle those batsmen around according to the situation in the game."
Ponting also weighed in on the trend of high-scoring matches in the tournament, explaining how bowlers have had to keep up with the batting-friendly pitches.
"...hopefully we do get good pitches all across the country in this IPL," he said. "I think that's what the fans want to see. I think they want to see a lot of runs. It's a really hard thing for the bowlers now. With the modern T20 batter, you look at some of our guys, they're big, strong athletes. The bowler only has to miss by a couple of inches on line or on length and they're paying the ultimate penalty. The ball is going over the fence and it's going a long way over the fence, sometimes out of the ground.
"It's been said for a long time that the game probably does favour the batsmen a little bit, but that's the challenge that you have as a team is trying to find ways to limit the damage that certain players can do, whether it's a change of angles or a change of pace or bowling more yorkers or bowling better yorkers or using your bouncer better or having someone like a Vishal [Nishad] and even a mystery spinner that no one's seen before that you might be able to get a couple of games into before anyone starts working you out.
"So these are the little intricacies that happen throughout an IPL tournament. The challenge is there for everybody. I want my batters to be able to make 250 runs a game and I want the bowlers to be able to go for under 200 runs a game. If we can do that then we're going to win a lot of games of cricket."