Former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting, as of Wednesday, September 18, has been appointed as the new head coach of Punjab Kings. Ponting coached Delhi Capitals till IPL 2024 and will now replace Trevor Bayliss. He has been appointed as a new head coach after coaching Washington Freedom to win a Major League Cricket title. In an official statement, Ponting said that he is grateful for the opportunity and is eager to show a new Punjab Kings to the fans. Ponting said: "I am grateful to Punjab Kings for presenting me with the opportunity to be the new Head Coach. I am excited to take up the new challenge. I had great conversations with the owners and the management about the way forward and was truly elated to see the alignment of our visions for the team. We all want to repay the fans who have stayed with the franchise over the years, and we promise that they will see a much different Punjab Kings going forward." Also Read | Ricky Ponting Joins Punjab Kings as Head Coach for IPL 2025 Ponting has agreed to a four-year contract with Punjab Kings, which will keep him with the franchise till 2028. The owners are giving him complete charge of building his coaching staff. What happens to the present lot though-the likes of Trevor Bayliss, Sanjay Bangar, Charl Langeveldt, and Sunil Joshi-is not clear yet. With the shift, Ponting will become the sixth head coach of PBKS in the last seven seasons. The team had a rough 2024 season. They finished 9th in the points table missing out the playoffs since 2014. Ponting's primary task will be to choose which players to retain for the 2025 season since the IPL retention rules are to be determined. He started his IPL career with Kolkata Knight Riders and then shifted to Mumbai Indians, with whom he later became the captain and eventually the coach. An excellent tenure as the Delhi Capitals' coach took the team thrice to the playoffs and, in 2020, for the first time, into the final. Also Read | Hardik Pandya Slips in ICC T20I Rankings: Liam Livingstone Claims No.1 Spot