IPL 2025: How Ricky Ponting convinced PBKS players to stay in India after ceasefire with Pakistan

Ricky Ponting stayed back in India and convinced anxious Punjab Kings foreign players to do the same after a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. While most of the overseas players and support staff were scrambling to leave India as soon as possible, Ponting showed courage and ensured team stability ahead of IPL 2025 resumption. read more

Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting has won praise for stepping up during a tense moment in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended IPL 2025 for a week after the Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals match was disrupted because of alarming situation at the Indo-Pak borders on Friday.

As the situation between India and Pakistan escalated, many foreign players in the IPL were preparing to leave the country, fearing a possible war and shutdown of international airspace. Most of them left the country by Saturday and Ponting himself was on a flight set to return to Australia.

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Ponting gets off flight after ceasefire

However, when news of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan came in, Ponting chose to get off the plane and stayed back in Delhi. But he didn’t stop there, the former Australia captain also convinced the anxious PBKS foreign players not to leave India and stay back for the resumption of IPL 2025.

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“It shows Ponting’s character. Only he could have pulled that off,” Punjab Kings CEO Satish Menon said as quoted by PTI. He was referring to the motivational talk Ponting gave to the foreign players who were worried about staying in India during such a tense time.

Ponting clams PBKS players with pep talk

The players, including Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, and Xavier Bartlett, had just made a stressful road and train journey from Dharamsala to Jalandhar and then to Delhi after their game was abandoned on 8 May. A source from the team said Stoinis was leading the group that wanted to leave immediately.

“The foreign players are not used to something like this (war like situation). So, it was natural for them to feel anxious. Led by Stoinis, they all wanted to leave at the earliest and understandably so. But Ponting has convinced them to stay back post ceasefire which I think is remarkable,” a source was quoted as saying.

South African pacer Marco Jansen left India but even he is still close by and waiting to come back. With the IPL set to resume soon, the Punjab Kings are in a strong position. Most of their Indian and overseas players are still in India and ready to play. The BCCI held a meeting on Sunday to finalise the new schedule and venues for the resumption of IPL 2025. It will be sent to franchises by Sunday night.

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