New Chandigarh, March 30 (IANS) Punjab Kings (PBKS) are set to kick off their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign against Gujarat Titans (GT) at their home ground, New International Stadium, New Chandigarh on Tuesday.

Speaking about the campaign opener, head coach Ricky Ponting expressed confidence in a stronger, more evolved squad heading into the new season.

Ponting emphasised that while last season’s top-of-the-table finish was encouraging, the team is approaching the new campaign with a fresh mindset.

“It’s nice to reflect on what was a great season for the franchise, but that doesn’t mean anything going into a new year. It’s nil-nil now for everybody. We’ve got to start that all over again,” he said.

The coach also pointed to improved squad depth and flexibility as a major strength this season, with multiple options available across roles.

“We’ve got the players that we want in certain roles, but we’ve also got a back-up player for most of those players right the way down to our 25th player. I just think overall, we should be stronger,” the head coach said.

He further added, “I just think there’s been natural growth in a lot of our players and if we can bring the best out of them over the next two months, starting tomorrow, there’s no reason why our performances can’t be better than last year.”

With the season opener set to be played on a surface expected to favour batting, Ponting acknowledged the importance of adapting quickly to conditions while finalising the playing XI.

He said, “We have got 25 players to pick from, with a nice balance of overseas players and Indian talent. First and foremost, we have to understand the conditions before we pick the team. It’s just started raining now, so all the covers have gone down outside, so we haven’t actually seen the playing surface for the last couple of days.”

“So hopefully before the end of the session tonight, we can have a really good look at the wicket that we’re going to use tomorrow, and then we can start thinking about different combinations and impact players and what we might want to do with our line-up,” he further added.

As Punjab Kings prepare to take the field, Ponting expressed his excitement to get the ball rolling, while also emphasising his belief in this new squad.

“We need to start well tomorrow, we need to play well at our home ground, but I honestly feel that we’ve got a better squad than we had last year. Our younger players are more experienced now and the overseas players that we’ve brought in this year are better than the squad that we had last year. So overall, I’m really excited to get the season underway,” he concluded.

–IANS

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