“Once You Have A Good Coach…”: Shreyas Iyer Hails Ricky Ponting’s Coaching In Mentoring His Leadership

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Cric News India

September 7, 2025 0 144

Shreyas Iyer-Ponting Bond Grows Stronger

Shreyas Iyer praised coach Ricky Ponting’s positive approach as their captain-coach duo guided Punjab Kings to the IPL 2025 final.

Several captain-coach partnerships in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are remembered for their success. The likes of MS Dhoni–Stephen Fleming, Hardik Pandya–Ashish Nehra, and Rohit Sharma–Mahela Jayawardene have produced proven results. However, one partnership that has been remarkable but still trophyless is that of Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting.

The Iyer-Ponting duo has taken not one, but two franchises to the IPL final. In 2020, they guided Delhi Capitals to their maiden summit clash, only to lose to Mumbai Indians. Most recently, they reunited at Punjab Kings, brought new energy to the team, and reached another final. But once again, they fell short, finishing runners-up against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Though the IPL title continues to elude them, the mutual respect between Iyer and Ponting remains strong. The Indian batter opened up about Ponting’s coaching style in The Quest Talk podcast on YouTube.

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“Once you have a good coach, a positive coach, it’s his job to get all the players together and build that form of camaraderie. The gelling that we get together before the matches or the tournaments, it is basically given by the coach,” Iyer said.

“This year, when Ricky came in as the coach, he made everyone comfortable. He instilled the sense that every player belonged to this franchise. He was open and honest about whatever he said,” he added.

The Indian batter further explained how Ponting’s methods made a difference in the dressing room. “So, once you get that sort of feedback from your coach that you can come back and perform at the best of your abilities, you’re confident enough, and at the back of your mind, you feel very comfortable in the resting room and you can interact with everyone,” Iyer said.

The Iyer-Ponting combination worked wonders for Punjab Kings, taking them to their first IPL final since 2014. However, their dream ended just six runs short in the chase of 191.