Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody, who has previously coached the Sri Lankan men’s team and IPL franchises like Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, has praised the leadership duo of Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting for Punjab Kings’ impressive campaign in the ongoing IPL 2025 season. With seven wins in eleven matches and 15 points on the board, the Mohali-based franchise currently sits third in the points table. They now need just one win from their remaining three league games to seal a long-awaited spot in the playoffs—their first in over a decade.
Punjab Kings, co-owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, have shown remarkable improvement this season across all departments. From powerful batting to clinical bowling and sharp fielding, the team has demonstrated balance and consistency—qualities often missing in their past campaigns. According to Moody, the primary reason behind this turnaround is the leadership brought in by head coach Ponting and captain Iyer.
When asked during a show about the key shift in Punjab Kings this season, Moody responded, “Leadership, simple as that. You’ve got a significant figure in Ricky Ponting, who has that presence, and he came in there and obviously made it very clear during the process of him being engaged as the coach that you’re going to do it my way. And I think that cleared a bit of a path of maybe other distractions that may have come in historically with Punjab that we’ve seen and been frustrated with.”
He further emphasized the importance of Iyer’s recruitment, adding, “And I think the recruitment of the captain, Shreyas Iyer, who is someone that’s very familiar with Ricky Ponting – they’ve worked well together – so I thought that was a really smart play.”
Moody also compared Iyer’s captaincy style to that of legendary Indian skipper MS Dhoni, pointing out his calm demeanor and composed leadership as key traits that have positively influenced the team.
As the IPL 2025 league stage nears its conclusion, Punjab Kings now stand on the verge of breaking an 11-year playoff drought, with their resurgence attributed largely to the clarity and direction brought by a formidable captain-coach partnership.
