Ricky Ponting (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) NEW DELHI: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has hailed the Indian national cricket team after their dominant win in the T20 World Cup 2026, terming the current Indian side as one of the strongest T20 teams ever. India clinched their third T20 World Cup title with a convincing 96-run victory over the New Zealand national cricket team in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Jay Shah calls 2019 to 2026 as the golden era of Indian cricket
The win also made India the first team to successfully defend the T20 World Cup.
Ponting praises India’s depth and consistency
Ponting highlighted India’s impressive performances in recent ICC tournaments and their strong record in white-ball cricket. The team’s combination of talent, experience and depth is extremely hard to beat, he said.“It’s really hard to argue against that. If you look at not only the T20I team, but their white-ball record in ICC events over the last five or six years, it’s quite remarkable,” Ponting said in The ICC Review International Cricket Council.“A lot of people probably recognized before this tournament the depth and strength that this current Indian team had and also the experience that they have.“This is a very, very strong Indian white-ball team, not just a T20 team. Concurrent World Cups, hats off to them.”
Experience and impact of IPL
The former Australian captain believes that the players’ experience in international cricket and in the Indian Premier League has helped them handle pressure situations better.“One thing that is probably overlooked in this current squad is the amount of experience and the amount of cricket that a lot of these guys have played, whether it’s international cricket or even just the IPL,” said Ponting, who is also the head coach of the Punjab Kings.“The IPL games are as big as the international games, so this Indian team came well prepared with great balance and a great squad.”
Learning from a rare defeat
India suffered a defeat against South Africa’s national cricket team during the Super Eight stage, but Ponting felt that the loss actually helped the team refocus.“You win 12 games on the trot, it’s definitely going to be an off day. And I’m glad it came early. It might just be the jolt India need,” he said. “They would learn from this experience and not take things for granted.”After this loss, India bounced back strongly with powerful batting and scored over 250 runs in three matches, including the semi-final and final.“Maybe it just allowed them to regroup, come together and talk about things that are important to them as a team,” Ponting added. “They cemented what they thought was their strongest playing XI and didn’t make many changes at the end of the tournament.”
