Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting and other foreign cricketers were on the verge of leaving India amid tension across the India-Pakistan border. However, as soon as the ceasefire was announced, Ponting deboarded the flight and encouraged all the other Australian cricketers to follow the follow. He reportedly delivered a pep talk inspiring the cricketers to stay back in India for the remainder of the IPL 2025 season, which is reportedly to begin on May 16.
Punjab CEO Satish Menon was impressed with Ponting’s attitude and noted that only he could have convinced the foreign cricketers to stay back. “It shows Ponting's character. Only he could have pulled that off,” Menon told.
Considering the heightened security due to the ongoing situation, the franchise had to make plenty of calls to make sure Ponting’s luggage was offloaded from the plane. Alongside Ponting, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie and Xavier Barlett also extended their stay in India.
Foreign cricketers such as Marco Jansen and Azmatullah Omarzai have moved to Dubai, which is a short journey from India. A course close to the team informed that the players felt anxious as they hadn’t experienced things like such. It was mentioned that the players wanted to leave at the earliest, but Ponting managed to convince them post the ceasefire.
“The foreign players are not used to something like this (war-like situation). So, it was natural for them to feel anxious. Led by Stoinis, they all wanted to leave at the earliest and understandably so. But Ponting has convinced them to come back post-ceasefire, which I think is remarkable,” said a source in the team.
Meanwhile, BCCI is expected to announce the revised IPL schedule on Monday, May 12. No matches will be hosted in Delhi and Dharamsala, and the final could be shifted from Kolkata to Ahmedabad.
