2 months ago
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Lauding the Indian players successful Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) roster arsenic “special” talents, caput manager Ricky Ponting says the franchise had the purpose of rebuilding the squad astir the “highest-quality” home players.
The PBKS had retained conscionable Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh, and went into the auction with a dense purse of ₹110.5 crore, and made immoderate high-end buys specified arsenic Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh.
They person been forming the team’s halfway since IPL 2025.
“Our young Indian talent, the guys astatine the apical of the order, are beauteous special. To physique immoderate of those Aussie guys astir them, we had a truly wide strategy going into the auction [2024] astir trying to rebuild this full squad from the bottommost up, and alteration and beryllium antithetic arsenic a franchise,” Ponting told JioHotStar.
Young opener Priyansh Arya vindicated Ponting’s words with a blistering 11-ball 39 earlier skipper Shreyas Iyer made a composed 50 to marshal the pursuit of 210 against Chennai Super Kings astatine Chepauk connected Friday (April 3, 2026) night.
“By conscionable keeping Prabhsimran and Shashank, it gave america an accidental for maine to prime the guys that I wanted to enactment with.
“Shreyas was evidently fig 1 connected the list. But it was truly important to get the highest-quality Indian players into our squad with Arshdeep and Yuzi,” helium added.
Chahal bowled a important spell successful the mediate overs, taking a wicket for 21 runs successful 3 overs.
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh was impressed by Chahal’s outing against CSK.
“Chahal isn’t precise tall, truthful helium uses that to his vantage by giving the shot much aerial and flight. The much you formation the ball, the much revs you get. And the much revolutions determination are, the much the shot volition dip and crook due to the fact that of this, the batter feels similar the shot is coming towards them, but it really isn’t; the shot is inactive acold from them.” The seasoned leg-spinner besides grabbed 2 wickets against Gujarat Titans a fewer days back, giving distant conscionable 28 runs successful his 4 overs.
“This is classical rotation bowling, which is simply a dying art, astir similar dinosaurs; determination are lone a fewer near now. There’s Kuldeep, there’s Chahal. The remainder accidental they are spinners, but similar everyone else, they don’t vessel similar one, they conscionable support bowling fast,” helium said.
