Mullanpur, March 30 Shreyas Iyer's desire to win the Indian Premier League trophy is now stronger than ever, and he is keen to achieve even greater success in the 2026 season, said Punjab Kings' head coach Ricky Ponting on Monday.
Iyer, who joined the franchise last year as captain, led PBKS to the top of the points table in the group stage and qualified for the final, where they lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
"The level of performance I saw from him last year with the bat was probably the best he has ever had in an IPL, and I can see that hunger in his eyes is now more intense than ever," Ponting told reporters here.
"Having come so close as a captain with a new team last year, I'm sure he is very keen to go one step further this year," the head coach said on the eve of their season opener against Gujarat Titans.
Looking back at their successful partnership with another franchise in the IPL, having previously worked with Delhi Capitals, Ponting said they both share similar ideas.
"We have worked together for a long time. We must have had four or five years together at Delhi. When I took on this role and realised that Shreyas was going to be in the mega auction, I made sure I had enough money in my purse to be able to buy him at the auction," Ponting said.
"I was really keen to work with Shreyas again, and things worked out very quickly for us last year."
"We both have very similar ideas and approaches to the game. It's not uncommon for us to be walking towards each other with a thought in our mind, and we come together and it's exactly the same thing we think about," Ponting added.
Ponting said the addition of Australia's Cooper Connolly to the Punjab Kings gives the squad more flexibility compared to last year.
"With someone like Cooper Connolly joining the squad, it gives us flexibility in both the top and middle order, as he is a left-handed batsman," Ponting said.
"Last year, we had Priyansh (Arya) at the top and (Nehal) Wadhera in the middle. Someone like Cooper Connolly gives us more flexibility in the batting order with left- and right-handed batsmen."
The former Australian captain said Punjab Kings' success in the last edition doesn't mean anything going into a new season.
"Our performance last year was good enough for us to finish on top of the table, but that doesn't mean anything going into a new season," Ponting said.
"I talked a lot last year about this team that we put together as being different and playing a really daring style and brand of cricket, and we have to start again. It's a fresh start for everyone," he said.