“People say Ricky Ponting told them something different” - Former India cricketer’s huge disagreement after IPL 2025

Former India cricketer Sarandeep Singh has questioned Punjab Kings (PBKS) head coach Ricky Ponting's role in youngsters' performances in IPL 2025. While Ponting was largely credited for the franchise's run to the final, Sarandeep expressed his disagreement.

The former cricketer felt that Ponting did not do anything extraordinary and just picked players in the team. He added that Indian youngsters who did well for PBKS in IPL 2025, like Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh, did so because their coaches at the domestic level worked hard on them.

"Ricky Ponting became the coach of PBKS. Everyone said that he is a very good coach. What different would he have explained? You have performed and gone there. He just made you play there. If Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran have scored runs, their coaches have worked hard, and by listening to them, they have made these runs. But people say Ricky Ponting told them something different. You can help a bit skill-wise, but during the season, these things can't happen," he said on Taruwar Kohli's YouTube channel. (24:53)

"If you are selected in IPL or India, you are selected to perform. There is no scene of improvement. It is only about man management. If you don't perform in domestic, how will you go there? The coaches who have worked with you there know you better and have seen your growth. Yes, the experience and environment are different," he added.

PBKS reached the IPL 2025 final but lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). As far as the two young openers are concerned, Priyansh notched up 475 runs from 17 matches at a strike-rate of 179.24 with a hundred and two half-centuries. Prabhsimran piled on 549 runs from 17 games at a strike-rate of 160.52 with four fifties.

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Former India selector claims batters lack pure hitting ability at present

Further, Sarandeep Singh, who also served as one of India's national selectors from 2016 to 2020, opined that batters do not understand hitting properly. He reckoned that they only go after power hitting and do not focus on their strengths.

He reflected on how youngsters would ask him to help them play unorthodox shots like Glenn Maxwell, Suryakumar Yadav, or AB de Villiers. While these shots are exciting to watch, the former India selector reflected that players must also look at work ethics rather than trying to become like someone.

"To be very honest, players don't know hitting at this time. The hitting these days is power hitting. A lot of kids come to us and be like Maxwell played such a shot. Suryakumar Yadav plays the paddle sweep, AB De Villiers started these shots and you like watching it. You want to hit such shots, but you have to see your strength. Virat and Rohit Sharma did not play these shots. Follow your strength. You cannot become like someone, follow their work ethic," he said. (18:36)

Sarandeep played three Tests and five ODIs in his career for India. He last played competitive cricket in 2009 in a T20 for Punjab against Himachal Pradesh.