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Ricky Ponting Reveals Shreyas Iyer’s Captaincy Masterstroke That Led PBKS To Win Over LSG

Rajgeeta Yadav

Ricky Ponting hails Shreyas Iyer's smart move [Source: @Rajiv1841/X.com]Ricky Ponting hails Shreyas Iyer's smart move [Source: @Rajiv1841/X.com]

Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer made a smart call during their IPL 2025 match against Lucknow Super Giants on May 4 in Dharamsala. Instead of taking his usual No. 3 spot, Iyer decided to send Josh Inglis up the order. This surprise move worked perfectly as PBKS won the match by 37 runs. 

Ricky Ponting Reveals Shreyas Iyer's Move

Head coach Ricky Ponting revealed after the match that it was Iyer’s idea, and it played a big role in the team’s victory. 

"It was actually a move that the captain came up with, and Shreyas thought, on that sort of a pitch, against that bowling attack, it would be the right thing to. If a wicket fell early, to send Inglis in. We felt that Mayank would bowl early on, and if you look at the way he bowls, he generally bowls reasonably short, and that's one of Inglis' great strengths. As you saw tonight, those pull shots were pretty amazing straight away," Ponting revealed in the post match press conference.

Josh Inglis Shines After Surprise Promotion

Josh Inglis, who hadn’t done much in earlier matches, made the most of his chance at No. 3. He smashed 30 runs off just 14 balls, including four sixes. His aggressive batting right after an early wicket gave Punjab a strong start. 

While Lucknow was expecting to face Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, and Iyer at the top, Inglis surprised everyone and it worked.

Punjab Kings Post A Mammoth Total For LSG

Punjab Kings posted their highest total of the season, scoring 236 runs. Prabhsimran Singh led the way with a powerful 91 off 48 balls, followed by good knocks from Iyer (45) and Shashank Singh (33). Ponting shared that Iyer’s move also allowed other key batters like himself, Wadhera, and Shashank to take charge in the middle overs.

Ponting also mentioned that Punjab’s strong batting line-up, with hitters like Azmatullah batting as low as No. 9, allows the top order to play freely without pressure. The team had already scored around 70 runs in the powerplay, setting the tone early.

Before the match, Ponting had challenged openers Prabhsimran and Priyansh to score a hundred. While Prabhsimran came close with 91, Ponting was pleased with how they started the innings. Both openers had already scored over 350 runs each in the season before this match.

Lucknow Falls Short Despite Late Fight

In response, LSG struggled during the chase. They were 73/4 halfway through and eventually ended at 199/7. Though Ayush Badoni and Abdul Samad tried to fight back, they didn’t get enough support from the rest of the team.

With this win, Punjab Kings moved up to second place in the IPL 2025 points table, just behind Royal Challengers Bengaluru.