The coach of Punjab Kings for the 2025 IPL season has paired up with his former Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer after three years, as Ponting expressed wanting to get him in Punjab along with Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal. Earlier, Punjab had retained just two players (uncapped), Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh. Even if they got back Arshdeep in the auction, Yuzi and Shreyas were new buys. In a recent interview with the Howie Games podcast, Ponting sheds light on the rough sketch of the auction on how he tried to get at least three prime Indians, which includes a captain too. Notably, the Ponting-Iyer duo had undoubtedly been one of the most successful captain-coach duos of the revamped Delhi Capitals and had a final played in 2020 against the Mumbai Indians under Iyer's captaincy. Ponting, however, considers the newly made PBKS team as a new one compared to the previous version, having major shifts in both the approach and faces. Shedding light on the auction strategy, Ponting said, "There were three players that I wanted to bring in. One who has been at Punjab Kings for three or four years—Arshdeep Singh. I also wanted to bring in a captain who I have worked with before and who has had a lot of success. So, we went after Shreyas Iyer. I also wanted to bring in Yuzi. So the Indian guys that we have are perfect.And then, we had to make a few tweaks as the auction went on to make sure we ended up with a really good squad. I am trying to make things different and rebuild and have the right people around me. But these three were non-negotiables.” Notably, Shreyas Iyer had finally risen into an IPL-winning captain after leading the Knight Riders as the champions of the 2024 IPL and also led Mumbai to win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in the same year. Read also: PBKS Squad for IPL 2025: Punjab Kings Full Squad and Probable XI Ricky Ponting's take on Indian fans Post-retirement Ricky Ponting has toured India multiple times for the commentary gigs and has experienced some snaps of the fandom culture in India. Be it a desperate try to click a photo with or extending a helping hand to their favorite celebs, Indians are a step ahead to share warmth. Ponting added, "When you're in India, on most flights or when you check into a hotel, there are so many people around trying to have a picture or they wish to grab your bag to drop into your room. But it's part and parcel of an Australian cricketer's life when you visit India. You appreciate it more when you understand how much it means to them. There are people of all different ages." Regarding the team-making, Ponting emphasized more on building an Indian core rather than creating a hype for the international players. The former Aussie captain seems happy as a coach with the newly formed team in the Punjab tent.