Follow UsPunjab Kings had one of their best season in Indian Premier League history in 2025, however, they fell short of conquering the final frontier as they fell six runs short of their maiden IPL trophy.
However, the presence of high-performing youngsters like Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera, etc. has been the defining narrative on the field for PBKS this year, as these youngsters lit up the tournament with their swashbuckling batting.
Speaking after the heartbreaking loss in the final, head coach Ricky Ponting praised the role of these youngsters; however, he also just let it slip in that some more experience in the middle order might have helped his side to clear out some issues. Notably, skipper Shreyas Iyer was the only capped Indian batter in the PBKS middle order.
“I can't speak highly enough for what those young boys have done through the tournament," Ponting said after the final.
"I think I talked at the first press conference I had with Shreyas about becoming a daring, dynamic, and different team. On the back of that, what Prabh and Priyansh and [Nehal] Wadhera and these sort of guys were able to do, there's probably enough been said through the media over the last couple of months.
"The way that we've been able to play our cricket, it's been highly entertaining. For a coach to be able to sit back and say that about a team gives me a lot of satisfaction.
"You can probably look at it tonight and say, 'was it probably a little bit of inexperience that cost us?' Maybe a little bit of experience in that middle order today might have helped us out, but what I know is that we're going to have these younger guys around this team for a long time and I think they're going to win us a lot of games going forward."
Ponting also promised that the young group will only get better with time and the team will be back “bigger and stronger” next season.
“We've got it right for most of the year. It was only a couple of days ago that we were here celebrating one of our great wins for the season to get into the final,” Ponting said.
“And today we probably feel that we've let one slip, but as I said, with this group being as young as it is, we'll be back bigger and stronger next season."