New Delhi: Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting was about to take off for home when the ceasefire between India and Pakistan came into force.
Despite that, the Australian legend had the option to fly back to Australia but he chose not to, making a last-minute disembarkation from the Qantas plane packed with anxious passengers.
Ponting stayed back in Delhi but he also ensured that the PBKS’ foreign players, who were edgy considering the possibility of a full scale war between two nuclear-armed countries, were convinced about returning to India with the event likely to resume later in the week.
“It shows Ponting’s character. Only he could have pulled that off. Not only he voluntarily decided to stay back, he gave a motivational talk to the foreign players who had left for their respective destinations but now will be joining the team at the earliest,” Punjab Kings CEO Satish Menon told PTI.
Considering the heightened security at the Delhi Airport, the franchise officials had to make plenty of phone calls to ensure Ponting’s luggage was off-loaded from the plane.
The anxious batch of players, who had to make a nervous road/train journey from Dharamsala to Delhi following the abandonment of the IPL game on May 8, included Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis and Xavier Bartlett (all from Australia).
South Africa’s Marco Jansen and Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai have camped themselves in Dubai which is a short flight from India.
“The foreign players are not used to something like this (war like situation). So, it was natural for them to feel anxious. Led by Stoinis, they all wanted to leave at the earliest and understandably so. But Ponting has convinced them to come back post ceasefire which I think is remarkable,” said a source in the team.
With the announcement of IPL resumption imminent, Punjab find themselves well-placed with majority of their star Indian and foreign players already in the country and on standby.
With Ponting galvanising the team from a nervous situation, it could motivate the squad to do something special in this IPL.
In the first season of Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting era, Punjab stand on the cusp of its first play-off berth since 2014.
The other stranded team in Dharamsala was Delhi Capitals after the game was abandoned after Punjab Kings raced to 122 for 1 in 10.1 overs. The match will resume from that position at a yet to be decided venue and date.
