Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has been appointed as the head coach of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) ahead of the mega auction for the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The development happened nearly three months after Ponting parted ways with Delhi Capitals, ending his seven-year stint with the franchise.

According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, Ponting has signed a multi-year contract with the franchise, and will take a decision on the remainder of the coaching staff ahead of the next season. The present coaching unit comprises: Trevor Bayliss (head coach), Sanjay Bangar (head of cricket development), Charl Langveldt (fast-bowling coach), Sunil Joshi (spin-bowling coach).

Ponting will be Punjab's sixth head coach in the last seven seasons. The franchise has made the playoffs only twice in IPL history and none in the last 10 years. In 2024, they finished ninth in the table.

With the 49-year-old getting appointed ahead of the big auction, the details of which are yet to be made official by the IPL governing council, his biggest assignment will be picking the group of players PBKS would want to retain for the next season and identifying a possible leader to take over the reins from Shikhar Dhawa, who announced his international retirement earlier last month.

For Punjab, their key performers included 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. The side also has a healthy bunch of overseas options - England's Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Johnny Bairstow and South Africa quick Kagiso Rabada.

A look at Ponting's IPL history

The three-time ODI World Cup winner played in the IPL only twice, five years apart. In the inaugural edition in 2008, he plied his trade with Kolkata Knight Riders. He returned to the tournament in Mumbai Indians colours in 2013, where he had stepped down from captaincy midway through the season, paving the way for Rohit Sharma to take over. He later announced his retirement across formats that same year, but remained associated with MI in an advisory role in 2014, before serving as the head coach in 2015 and 2016.

In 2018, he was named the head coach of the Delhi franchise and mentored the side to three successive playoff qualifications between 2019 and 2021, which included a maiden run to the final in 2020. He eventually parted ways with the team in July 2024, after Delhi failed to make the top four in each of the last three seasons.

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