Punjab Kings may have stumbled at the final hurdle of their spirited IPL 2025 campaign, falling short by just six runs against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a thrilling title clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday, but head coach Ricky Ponting remained upbeat about the journey and future of his team.

After opting to bowl first on a true batting surface, PBKS did well to contain RCB to 190/9 in their 20 overs, thanks to disciplined spells from Arshdeep Singh and Kyle Jamieson, who claimed three wickets apiece.

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In reply, the Punjab openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh gave the chase a fiery start, adding 43 runs in the first five overs. However, a mid-innings wobble set them back and despite a blistering unbeaten 61 off 30 balls from Shashank Singh down the order, Punjab could only manage 184/7.

Though the narrow loss dashed their hopes of a maiden IPL title, Ponting was full of praise for the side’s efforts across the season, especially the impact of the younger players in the squad.

“The way that we’ve been able to play our cricket, it’s been a highly entertaining team to watch, and that for a coach to be able to sit back and talk about a team that way gives me a lot of satisfaction. You can probably look at it tonight and say, ‘Was it probably a little bit of inexperience in the middle order that cost us?’

Ponting, however, saw the bigger picture and expressed faith in the promise the youngsters have shown.

“But what I know is that we are going to have these younger guys (Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Nehal Wadhera) with us for a long time, and I think they’re going to win us a lot of games going forward,” Ponting said at the post-match press conference.

He also reflected on the vision he and captain Shreyas Iyer had set out for the team at the start of the tournament.

“I can’t speak highly enough for what those young boys have done through the tournament. I think I talked at the first press conference I had with Shreyas about becoming a daring, dynamic, and different team. On the back of that, what Prabh and Priyansh and [Nehal] Wadhera and these sorts of guys were able to do, there’s probably enough been said through the media over the last couple of months,” he said.

Shashank nearly scripted a fairytale finish for Punjab with a breezy half-century. While the loss was heartbreaking, Ponting remained composed in his post-match assessment, pointing to a brief loss of momentum as the key difference.

“There’s no excuse from us. Shashank, at the end of the game, said he thinks that was the best wicket he has batted on for the whole season. We just lost a bit of momentum at a critical time, in probably the last couple of overs of the power play and we lost critical wickets,” Ponting said.

The match marked the end of a remarkable run for Punjab Kings, who had made it to the playoffs and the final for the first time in 11 years. Reflecting on the progress his team has made, Ponting expressed optimism for what lies ahead.

“It was only a couple of days that we were here celebrating one of our great wins for the season to get into the final, and today we probably feel that we have let one slip. But with this group being as young as it is, we will be back bigger and stronger next season,” he said.

“I think it’s always easy to make observations from the outside, but I made it pretty clear when I was appointed as head coach that I wanted to make sure things were different. I wanted to make sure things were done in a certain way from the top. I wanted to make things different; I wanted to make a significant change, and I think we have managed to do that,” he signed off.