One of the most successful captains of his time, Ricky Ponting is an icon in the global cricketing spectrum. Now a coach and mentor, Ponting played a pivotal role in Punjab Kings’ qualification into the final of the IPL 2025 season. Though the franchise lost the title-decider to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Ponting’s efforts received praise from all across the cricketing spectrum. However, there are certain traits of Ponting, the coach, that the franchise’s co-owner, Preity Zinta, hasn’t been able to understand.
In a candid chat with the PBKS coach, Preity asked how someone like Ponting, who was so aggressive as a cricketer on the field, can be so calm in the dugout?
“How does somebody be so aggressive on the ground and as a person, but be so calm and chilled out?,” the actress asked.
Ponting stumped Zinta with his reply, saying that it isn’t actually the case. To experience this, she should come down from the stands and sit with him in the dugout.
“You need to come and sit next to me in the dugout sometimes, because you will see that it’s not always calm. Look, I’m an aggressive-natured person, especially when it’s cricket time,” the former Australia captain said.
Ponting mentality – Train with passion, roar with aggression
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— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) June 7, 2025
Ponting further delved into his personality as a coach, saying he intends to bring out the best version of himself as a coach and also help the players bring out their best every single time.
“I’ll have a laugh and a joke and a coffee and a sit down with anyone and talk about anything outside of cricket time. But when it’s cricket time, it’s my job to bring high performance to this team. And so I’m not gonna waste a minute, I’m not gonna waste a day, I’m not gonna waste a training session where I’m not trying to be the best coach that I can be and make every single player that’s playing with me the best player that they can be,” said Ponting.
