Although the Punjab Kings will enjoy their victory against the Mumbai Indians by seven wickets on Monday night, head coach Ricky Ponting acknowledged that the players will also be reminded that their task is not yet over.

With a merciless chase spearheaded by fifties from Josh Inglis and Priyansh Arya, PBKS earned a top two position in the IPL points standings and made their first postseason trip since 2014.

Ponting praised the aggressive young batting core and reminisced on how the season changed under his direction, beginning with the auction. He stressed the significance of turning a good regular season into a solid postseason performance since he is a serial champion.

“Very happy; this is the result of a lot of hard effort. Beginning with the auction, my main goal was to arrive at a new franchise and immediately make an impact. It’s clear that the squad is of high caliber and moving in the same direction. I’ve been telling them that the big games are coming up, but we haven’t done anything yet. With 500 runs and a 23–24 record, I predicted that Priyansh would play four or five games. He is one of the tournament’s discoveries.

Now, it’s difficult to argue with. Young talent that isn’t afraid to see and smash the ball. International players like Inglis and Stoinis have performed well. Shreyas has performed well. We are a contented bunch that has enjoyed each other’s company for the last 10 weeks and has one more left. Given how much I paid during the auction, it’s quite clear that I was eager to collaborate with Shreyas. In Delhi, we got along well at work. He’s someone I’ve known for a while. He is a decent individual. In the post-game interview with broadcasters, Ponting said, “It’s what you need when you need to form a culture.”

Thanks to their higher run rate than RCB, who may tie PBKS on points if they defeat LSG on Wednesday, Punjab has all but guaranteed the top place with this victory.

Marco Jansen’s absence from the playoffs is another worry for the club, but Ponting thinks they have the depth to compensate for the young pacer, who will be a “big miss” for his team.

Arshdeep is excellent, and Chahal needs to return. Individual players will give Shreyas a good reputation if you talk to them. We’ve celebrated after every game but the last one because of the short turnaround, and we’ll do it tonight. We’ll figure out where our training sessions fit in since I have a flight tomorrow in the late afternoon. Players will be rested. Jansen is an excellent person who is difficult to replace. To make sure Jamieson had a game before Marco departed, I got him in tonight. We’d like to believe we have strong depth and can cover for Marco even if it’s a major blow, as every club has lost players,” he said.