NEW DELHI: With just two uncapped players retained and the biggest purse of Rs 110.5 crore going into the mega auction, Punjab Kings will be starting from scratch under new head coach Ricky Ponting.
Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh were the only two retained players by the franchise as the side made a bold move of releasing the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada and Sam Curran.
With Punjab having failed to make it to the playoffs since 2014, the Australian great sees this as an opportunity to start afresh and wants the franchise to play a completely new brand of cricket.
Shedding light on retention decisions, Ponting said that he wants the team to be the most dynamic and entertaining team going forward.
“I’m most excited about a new, fresh start. It starts to come together today, with the retention list. It’s well documented as to what I’ve done with Punjab (Kings). We’re only going in with two uncapped players and we’re going into the auction with the biggest purse by a long way. So, we’ve got the ability to put a whole squad of players together.,” Ponting said on The ICC Review.
“A couple of new coaching staff come in as well (for Punjab Kings). The main and most important thing for me is making this whole franchise different. Making it different from outside, making the results on-field look different.
“I want us to be the most dynamic and most entertaining franchise and group of players in the IPL,” Ponting said.
As the retention deadline ended on October 31, Ponting expressed surprise on Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul’s release by their respective teams.
“There are a lot of exciting players. So many. I’m a bit surprised with some of the non-Indian retentions if you like, with both Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant being available in the auctions,” Ponting said.
“It was a bit surprising, even KL Rahul to a certain degree. It seems like individuals or franchises are busy looking to move in different directions to some of their players.
“This is where it gets exciting,” Ponting said. “You’ve got to understand who your number one target is and how much money you are willing to pay for them. That’s such a big part of it (IPL), of getting the auction right strategy-wise. And then handing it over to us, as a group of coaches,” he added.
Ahead of the auction, Royal Challengers Bengaluru have the second biggest purse — Rs 83 crore — after Punjab.
Full IPL 2025 Retention List
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni
Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel
Gujarat Titans: Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rinku Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh
Lucknow Super Giants: Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni
Mumbai Indians: Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma
Punjab Kings: Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Sandeep Sharma
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Yash Dayal
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Travis Head