Jaipur: Punjab Kings have been on a roll this IPL season but head coach Ricky Ponting feels the side has not achieved anything yet, declaring that a playoffs qualification in more than a decade is merely a job half done at this point.
Punjab Kings convincingly thrashed Mumbai Indians by seven wickets to ensure a top two finish in the play-offs and two chances to enter the final of the cash-rich league.
“I think it’s pretty obvious to see that this is a really talented team that are all on the same page and heading in the same direction,” Ponting said in an interview. “I mean yeah, it’s a great achievement till now but really, if you look back, we haven’t achieved anything yet. That’s the one thing I’ve been saying to the players since the moment we qualified,” he said.
“The vision for me was always to finish in the top two, and we’ve got there now. It’s a really happy group and we’ve enjoyed our time in each other’s company for the last ten weeks, but we’ve got another week to go yet,” added the former Australian skipper.
Wake-up call for MI
Mumbai opener Ryan Rickelton admitted that the defeat was a “wake-up call,” but was confident that the five-time champions have what it takes to win the IPL Eliminator.
“They outplayed us… so it was a bit of a wake-up call,” Rickelton said.
“It’s not the end of the world. In all honesty, the team is clicking very nicely we just need to sharpen up one or two things with the bat, ball, and in the field.We’ve got the skills and group to win the Eliminator. The guys will definitely focus on the areas we need to improve, and I’m sure we’ll put up a strong
performance,” he said.