"The gathering of English players there will get removed" - Aakash Chopra on expectations from Ricky Ponting as Punjab Kings head coach

Aakash Chopra expects the Punjab Kings (PBKS) to release most of their English players after Ricky Ponting's appointment as their head coach. He also feels the former Australia skipper will acquire a few Aussie players at the auction.

PBKS finished ninth in IPL 2024, only above the Mumbai Indians (MI). They had four England players - Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes - as part of their overseas contingent this season.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Ponting taking over as the Punjab Kings head coach might imply that they will have an Australia-heavy overseas contingent from an England-heavy one.

"What will you expect from Ricky Ponting? Firstly, I feel the gathering of English players there will get removed. Everyone will be sent, those bought for 18 crores or 12 crores. You won't have so many English players there now. Now there will be some change there. Now you will have Australian players there," he said (2:00).

"You will find that the Australian players in the Delhi Capitals camp will be released and some of them will become a part of Ricky Ponting's Punjab Kings. I am not saying he is biased but wherever you see Ricky, you find a slightly bigger Australian contingent there because he knows them well," the former India opener added.

Nathan Ellis was the only Australian player in the PBKS squad in IPL 2024. On the flip side, the Delhi Capitals (DC) had four Australians - David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Jake Fraser-McGurk and Jhye Richardson.

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"It's the chicken and egg situation" - Aakash Chopra on the Punjab Kings frequently changing their head coach and captain

The Punjab Kings have never won the IPL title. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that Punjab Kings' frequent leadership changes haven't yielded them the desired results.

"Change is the only constant but the only thing that hasn't changed is their fortunes. They have reached the playoffs and the final but have never lifted the trophy. Have they not won the trophy because they make so many changes or they are forced to make changes because they have not won the trophy - it's the chicken and egg situation. Ricky Ponting is their 11th coach," he observed.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the IPL 2014 runners-up will also need to appoint a new captain for the next season.

"One more thing will change, that is the number of captains that have been made. They have had 16 captains and the 17th one will be made this year. It means the captain has been changed in almost every season. Now since Shikhar Dhawan has taken retirement, they will search for a new captain," Chopra pointed out.

Shikhar Dhawan, who announced his retirement recently, was the PBKS skipper at the start of IPL 2024. Sam Curran took over the captaincy after Dhawan was unavailable due to an injury, with Jitesh Sharma leading the franchise in the last game once Curran departed to join the England squad ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup.