Shreyas Iyer, the captain of the Punjab Kings, was commended by head coach Ricky Ponting for his game-winning innings against Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2025 on Wednesday.

Captain Shreyas Iyer led the 191-run chase as Punjab Kings defeated Chennai Super Kings in a pivotal victory in the current Indian Premier League on Wednesday at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium. On a slow, winding course, CSK posted a massive total of 190 after choosing to bowl, riding on Sam Curran’s 47-ball 88.

CSK managed to set a difficult goal for the visiting team, even though Yuzvendra Chahal took 4 for 32 in his 3 overs while Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen both claimed 2 wickets. To set up his team’s victory, however, Iyer played a captain’s knock in the middle, scoring 72 runs in 41 balls. With the help of opener Prabhsimran Singh, who amassed 54 runs as well, PBKS won the match by 4 wickets after completing the chase with two balls remaining.

Ricky Ponting discussed the Indian cricketer’s development as a skipper at the post-match award ceremony.

This tournament began with Shreyas in a form I had never seen him in before. One of the reasons I was so eager to have him here as our captain was because of today’s innings. I am aware of his skill as a player. I am aware of his leadership skills. I am also aware of his intense desire for achievement. And tonight, I believe he demonstrated that to everyone. An simple run pursuit was never going to happen. We had a fantastic run chasing,” the former Australian international said.

Ponting went on to commend Iyer as a captain and describe how the rest of the dressing room is motivated by his impact.

“You can see that he is really driven for success if you simply look him in the eye right now. He just has that expression on his face that indicates he is the team’s leader. He wants to make this club and this franchise successful, and based on his performance, it doesn’t seem like he will let anything stand in his way. He said, “That is a great attitude for a leader to have because it rubs off on everybody else.”

Ponting also observed, “Yuzi is a wicket-taker,” and commended leg-spinner Chahal for his ball-handling skills. They must believe in their own abilities and support that they can remove any batsman at any moment. He will thus feel much more confident after making that little contribution to the game’s back end today.”

For their next three games, Punjab will travel to Dharamsala, their second home field of the season. Ponting believes his team will benefit from having a greater grasp of the circumstances in Dharamsala.

It’s where we call home. We ought to be more familiar with and adept at the circumstances than anybody else. Before our next game, we have two training days after a very long travel day tomorrow. We will thus have an opportunity to examine the circumstances and resolve them. Prior to the start of this season, we also held a camp up in Dharamsala for four to five days. As a result, our gamers will have a clear idea of the circumstances that will exist there. “I hope we win all three games in Dharamsala,” Ponting said.

On Saturday, Punjab will play the Lucknow Super Giants at HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala.