Harpreet Brar played two matches out of fourteen for Punjab Kings in IPL 2026. He took two wickets at an economy of 7.50, spent twelve games on the bench, and still chose to publicly praise the two men responsible for that decision.
His words about captain Shreyas Iyer and head coach Ricky Ponting carried no bitterness. They carried conviction.
“They [Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting] are very similar kinds of people. And they are very practical people. If I have a question in mind, I will go and ask them. They will always answer it in the right manner. It’s important to be practical in life, because you can improve on things you’re weak in. And obviously, they also have a very positive attitude.”
Harpreet Brar
That quote separates the Punjab Kings dressing room from most franchise environments. A player left out of the XI for the majority of the season does not speak this way about his leaders unless the relationship is real.
Brar went further when describing Ponting’s coaching philosophy.
“If I talk about Ricky, the way he’s played cricket in his career, he has a similar mindset as a coach. So I like that about him. He says, whether you’re playing or not, your attitude shouldn’t drop. If your shoulders are drooping in a tough situation, you’ve already lost half the game.”
Harpreet Brar
Ponting’s message to the squad was clear: selection does not determine your value to the team. That principle kept Brar engaged through weeks without a game.
The Iyer-Ponting partnership has a longer history than Punjab Kings. The two first worked together at Delhi Capitals, where they turned an underperforming franchise into a regular contender and reached the 2020 IPL final. When Ponting joined PBKS as head coach on a four-year deal in September 2024, Iyer was his first target at the mega auction. Punjab signed him for Rs 26.75 crore and made him captain.
The results followed quickly. PBKS went unbeaten in their first seven matches of IPL 2025 and reached their first final since 2014. In IPL 2026, Iyer scored his maiden IPL century, an unbeaten 101 off 51 balls against Lucknow Super Giants, crossing 7,000 T20 runs. Punjab also completed the highest successful run chase in T20 history, hunting down 265 against Delhi Capitals.
Ponting has spoken publicly about Iyer’s growth, calling him “a more mature player now” who “understands the game and game situations probably better than ever before.” Brar recognized the same pattern, noting that every team Iyer has captained in the last three to four years has reached the final.
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Nehal Wadhera, another PBKS squad member, echoed the same sentiment. “When you have positive people around you, you tend to have positive thoughts,” Wadhera said, specifically pointing to Iyer’s daily discipline of arriving early, completing training, and focusing on diet without being told.
Brar’s own career adds weight to his words. He has taken 37 IPL wickets across 51 matches, including a famous spell where he dismissed Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Glenn Maxwell in the same game in 2021. Despite consistent domestic performances, including what Ponting described as “an outstanding domestic season” in 2024-25, Brar has never received an India A call-up. He has spoken openly about that frustration while insisting he must stay ready because “there can be a call anytime.”
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Being dropped is the loneliest feeling in professional cricket. You train with the squad, wear the same jersey, sit in the same dugout, but the game happens without you. Most players in that position withdraw. Some grow resentful. The ones who stay fully engaged are rare, and they only stay that way when the environment around them makes it possible.
Brar’s praise of Iyer and Ponting is not about their tactical ability or match results. It is about accessibility. “If I have a question in mind, I will go and ask them.” That sentence matters more than any win-loss record. A benched player who feels comfortable walking up to his captain and coach with a question is a player who still belongs. Ponting and Iyer built that at Punjab Kings, and Brar’s words are the proof.
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