New Delhi, Mar 23 (UNI) After narrowly missing out on the title last year, Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting set the tone for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by urging his players to embrace mistakes while staying committed to the team’s process.
Addressing the squad at the start of their training camp in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh, Ponting emphasised the importance of preparation, clarity of roles and belief in the team’s approach as they gear up for the 2026 campaign.
The team began its camp at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium with an intense opening session as players and support staff regrouped ahead of the new season.
Speaking ahead of the practice session, the former Australia captain stressed that the immediate focus for the team is on preparation rather than results.
“From now, the games and the tournament don’t start now, as far as I’m concerned. This is training, this is preparation, this is about getting ourselves physically, technically, and mentally right for that first game on the March 31, right?” he said.
Reflecting on the previous season, Ponting encouraged the players to revisit the qualities that helped the team perform well as a unit. Punjab Kings ended as runners-up to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the 2025 season.
“I want you to think back and think about what you brought to this team last year that made us a good team, right? The one thing I spoke about last year, every single day, was we were a good team from the start until the end, and the one thing that we were doing, we were chasing being a great team,” he said in a video shared by the franchise.
Ponting urged his players that mistakes are part of the game as long as they remain committed to their plans.
“Mistakes come, we all make mistakes, that’s fine. I’ll make mistakes on the way through this, you’ll all make mistakes, you’ll drop a catch, you’ll play a bad shot, you’ll bowl a bad over, but as long as you’re sticking to what you know and what your game plan is, if you make a mistake doing that, in my eyes it’s not a mistake, it’s just what happens in the game, it’s part of the game,” he said.
The Shreyas Iyer-led side will open their campaign in IPL 2026 against the Gujarat Titans on April 31.
