Ponting was associated with the Delhi Capitals from 2018 to 2024.
Days after being appointed as the head coach of Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Australian legend Ricky Ponting opened up on his departure from the Delhi Capitals (DC) coaching setup.
Ponting revealed that his availability had become an issue and the franchise wanted him to operate as a full-time head coach.
After Ponting’s seven-year stint with DC came to an end, PBKS signed him for the same role starting from IPL 2025.
Ponting became the third head coach in four seasons for Punjab Kings, who finished ninth in the 2024 IPL season. The team has not made the playoffs since 2014.
One of Ponting's initial tasks will be to identify players for retention ahead of the upcoming mega-auction.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Ponting said he managed to create a "family environment" during his tenure with the Capitals.
"I felt like we created a really good family environment there. As I said, I understand what they want; they said to me that my availability was becoming an issue. And they wanted to pretty much have a full-time head coach. I could not commit to that, so I was disappointed that it ended, but I understand the direction they wanted to head going forward," Ponting stated.
"Everyone that I have been there with, has had a great time. You have only to look at some of the social media posts that Delhi put out straightaway to understand that a lot of the people involved in the franchise were disappointed that I wasn't continuing as well. But the decisions were made," he added.
Ponting acknowledged that the pressure of winning a trophy weighs heavy on a coach, but he relishes that pressure.
"That is the thing that makes coaching inviting to me. I like having that pressure. It is as close to getting back to playing as you can possibly get. From the moment I finished playing, when that competition stops in your life, it is really hard to replace that again. The closest thing I could find to playing was getting back in the cricket team's changing room being a coach and feeling like you are actually playing again. And coaching against guys that I might have played against and guys that are coaching that I played against--I want to beat them. Simple. A cricket changing room is where I'm supposed to be," he added.
Ponting called coaching Mumbai Indians an "awesome experience" while also adding that DC changing room was a "special place" even without a trophy.
"But we made a couple of big slip-ups in our mega-auction a couple of years ago [2022] and even probably our player retentions, and that set us back quite a way. And even this year [2024], little things went against us again, with Rishabh [Pant, DC captain] being suspended for a game that we had to win. We missed the playoffs on run rate. Little things like that add up. The results in T20 games are decided by really small margins. And then our season can be defined by really small margins as well. And we have been on the wrong end of those for a couple of years at DC," he remarked.
On the evolution of coaching in the IPL, Ponting said it has become more specific now and teams are covering every base by appointing coaches for different roles.
"So you have a lot of the best coaches in the world there at once. And when you have the best coaches and the best players, you are guaranteed to have high-quality cricket. What the IPL has done by having all of these coaches is, I think, the reason that India are actually as good as they are. There has always been that talent in India, but to have that talent around the best coaches for two or three months every year has helped them become better players," he concluded.
(With ANI Inputs)