Aakash Chopra is expecting to see the departure of England players from Punjab Kings (PBKS) after the appointment of Ricky Ponting as head coach of the franchise. He feels Ponting will add Australian players to the squad.

PBKS finished their campaign in the ninth spot in IPL 2024 and have four England players: Sam Curran, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, and Chris Woakes. Chopra mentioned that Ponting becoming the head of the coaching staff means that they will have an Australia-heavy overseas unit of players.

“The England players will be out with Australia cricketers coming in. The England players who were bought for 18 crore or 12 crore will be out of the franchise. You won’t see them playing for the Punjab Kings. Now you will have Australian players,” Aakash Chopra said.

“Delhi Capitals will release Australia cricketers after sacking Ricky Ponting and these players will move to Punjab Kings. I am not saying that he is biased, but that has been a trend so far. Wherever he goes, Australia cricketers follow him,” he added.

Nathan Ellis was the only Aussie player in the PBKS squad in IPL 2024. On the other hand, DC had four Aussies in the form of David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, and Jake Fraser-McGurk.

Aakash Chopra also spoke about the frequent changes in the set-up of Punjab Kings. “They have made it to the playoffs and also the final. But the trophy cabinet is still empty. They didn’t win a trophy because of the changes they made, or they were forced to make changes because of their failures. Ricky Ponting is their 11th head coach.”

The former opener added that the Punjab-based franchise will also appoint a new captain for IPL 2025.

“They have had 16 captains and will be the 17th one for the new season. It means Punjab have changed their captain in almost every season. Now Shikhar Dhawan, who was their skipper in the previous season, is retired, and Punjab will search for a new captain.”