Ricky Ponting Reveals How Shreyas Iyer's Tactical Masterclass Left LSG Stunned

Punjab Kings registered their highest score of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, putting 236 on the board against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). The likes of Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer, and Shashank Singh contributed the most with the bat, adding scores of 91, 45 and 33 respectively but another batter whose cameo helped the team put a resounding total on the board was Josh Inglis. The Australian hadn't done much with the bat until the match in Dharamsala, where he was promoted to the No. 3 spot. After the game, PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting revealed that the decision to change Inglis' role was taken by skipper Shreyas Iyer.

"It was actually a move that the captain came up with, and Shreyas thought, on that sort of a pitch, against that bowling attack, it would be the right thing to. If a wicket fell early, to send Inglis in. We felt that Mayank would bowl early on, and if you look at the way he bowls, he generally bowls reasonably short, and that's one of Inglis' great strengths. As you saw tonight, those pull shots were pretty amazing straight away," Ponting revealed in the press conference.

Inglis scored 30 runs from just 14 balls after Priyansh Arya departed for a 4-ball 1. Inglis scored 4 sixes during his cameo, setting the tone for Punjab's performance with the bat. While LSG were preparing against Priyansh, Prabsimran and Iyer at the top of the batting order, Inglis came out of syllabus.

"So, yeah, that was what the captain wanted to do. It then also allows us to have, you know, Iyer, Wadhera and Shashank through the middle of the innings, which is what we thought would be crucial for us in tonight's game as well. It was probably a surprise call for LSG to see him go out, and it paid off for us