"Probably makes him a little bit hungrier for us" - Ricky Ponting's huge statement on Shreyas Iyer's Test snub amid IPL 2025

Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting believes his team’s captain, Shreyas Iyer, is hungrier to perform for the franchise following his snub from the Test squad for the 2025 India tour of England. After Iyer single-handedly led his team to the IPL 2025 final with his quickfire 87 off 41 balls against Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2025 Qualifier 2, Ponting feels that Iyer is keen to prove the selectors wrong both as a batter and a leader.

Punjab were struggling at 72/3 in the must-win game, but Iyer stayed right till the end to take his team home. The 30-year-old will now be looking to bag back-to-back IPL trophies as skipper, having led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third title last year. Notably, PBKS are hoping to win their first-ever IPL title.

Ponting told the ICC review on Monday (June 2):

“I actually was gutted…but he’s accepted that really well and he’s moved on. He’s just got that real hunger in his eyes to do well every time that he plays for us here and wants to win games of cricket and wants to evolve and develop into the best leader and captain that he can be."

“Shreyas has done absolutely everything” – Ricky Ponting expresses surprise over Shreyas Iyer’s absence from India tour of England

Ricky Ponting further pointed out that Shreyas Iyer delivered with the bat in whatever chances that came his way in both international and domestic cricket. On this, he said:

“Certain other players that have been picked in that (Test) squad have done it on the back of good first-class cricket and good IPL seasons leading up to that selection and Shreyas has done absolutely everything the same as some of those other players.”

“So, I was disappointed that he didn’t get picked as I actually felt that he would get picked. But he didn’t. And I think that probably makes him a little bit hungrier for us when these playoff games come around," he added.

As far as IPL 2025 is concerned, Iyer has amassed 603 runs in 16 innings with the help of six half-centuries. In the red-ball format, he scored 480 runs in seven innings at an average of 68.57 with the help of two centuries in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy.

In Tests, the middle-order batter has 811 runs in 24 innings, comprising one ton and five half-centuries. His last Test came against England in February 2024.

Ponting further opened up on their camaraderie as skipper and coach, which began in 2019 during their stints with Delhi Capitals (DC). He said:

“I enjoy playing a bit of a role with him as we work really well together. We talk a lot together about the game and tactics and, I think he said last night that he said ‘that I leave it to Ricky to look after the tactical stuff and pick the players, and then he hands it over to me and I go and execute it out on the field’”

“And that’s the way we’ve worked, this year and it’s been nice to get that sort of working relationship back together again," he added.

Shreyas Iyer will lead PBKS against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL 2025 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, June 3.