Ahmedabad, May 3 (IANS) Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting struck a composed yet candid note ahead of the team’s IPL 2026 clash against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, emphasising fine margins and execution as key factors following his side’s first defeat of the season.
Punjab, who had enjoyed a strong run at the top of the table before their recent loss, are now looking to quickly regain momentum in what is shaping up to be a tightly contested phase of the tournament.
Reflecting on the narrow nature of T20 contests, Ponting highlighted how small lapses can alter outcomes.
“It was actually very positive. I think many of these games are decided by very small margins. A couple of balls here or there can change everything. I thought our batting performance in the last game was strong enough to post 222, but we made a few execution errors. In this format, bowlers are under so much pressure that you have to cut them some slack if they miss a yorker or fail to properly execute a slower ball,” Ponting told broadcasters ahead of the game.
Despite the setback, the former Australia captain underlined that Punjab’s overall standard of cricket this season has been high, while stressing the importance of maintaining precision.
“As I said to the boys, when the teams are this closely matched, if you are off by even two percent, you’re going to lose games. However, our level of cricket leading up to that match was really strong, and hopefully, we can bounce back with a solid response tonight,” he added.
Ponting also pointed to the importance of adapting to varying conditions across venues, particularly for bowlers in a high-scoring tournament.
“Of course. You have to go back, analyse what went wrong and make slight adjustments. The hardest thing for bowlers in this tournament is that their lengths must change ever so slightly from venue to venue. We’ve broken down the data to understand those crucial lengths, and the team has had a couple of days of training here to really work on that. Additionally, we expect this wicket today to offer a bit more bounce than what we saw in Mullanpur, despite being a black soil pitch. You have to factor all of that in,” the Australian veteran noted.
He also took positives from the previous outing, particularly the performance of the spin department, saying, “Our spinners were outstanding last game; Yuzi picked up three wickets and Brar did a great job at the other end. If we can get those guys working well again tonight, hopefully, we will see a different result.”
Addressing concerns around fielding lapses, Ponting indicated that the team has opted for a measured approach rather than overemphasising errors.
“It’s one of those things that can be hard to address. Sometimes, the more you talk about it, the harder it gets for the players. We’ve simply tried to reinforce the hard work we’ve already put in. To be honest, the players who dropped catches have probably done more catching practice than anyone else. We’ve pulled them aside for some individual work, and hopefully, they hang on to everything tonight,” he concluded.
–IANS
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