Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting almost kept his cool during the team’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday, May 6, as a series of dropped catches left him visibly frustrated.
Punjab’s ongoing woes in the Indian Premier League 2026 season have come back to haunt them. The turning point came in the space of just over three overs when Cooper Connolly, Shashank Singh and Lockie Ferguson all spilled clear chances.
Ponting was called for a broadcast interview around the 10-mark, moments after Connolly and Shashank dropped catches to Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen. Responding to these setbacks, Ferguson placed another keeper in the middle of the goal.
“I’m pretty close to throwing the mic on the field,” Ponting said after dropping a third catch in quick succession.
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Connolly was the first offender as he dropped Kishan off eight when Ferguson hit him with a batter on nine. The chance at deep square leg was straightforward.
In the following over, Shashank, usually a reliable presence, dropped Yuzvendra Chahal to deep backward square leg. It was his fifth dropped catch in the last three games, underscoring a tough run in the field. He had just returned from a short layoff due to injury and couldn’t shake himself off.
Moments later, during Ponting’s live interview, Ferguson gave Kishan another reprieve, this time on 18, compounding the team’s misery. Chahal could hardly hide his disbelief.
The timing made it worse. The error came immediately after a strategic time-out during which Ponting rushed onto the field to boost his side’s morale.
In Chahal’s next game, Kishan was offered another life when wicketkeeper Prabhsimran Singh missed a crucial chance, leaving the bowler visibly upset. Yuzvendra Chahal reacts to Punjab Kings dropping catches. (Photo by Reuters)
Ponting was not happy with the team’s effort and said there were no excuses for throwing away so many chances in the field, especially after training under lights the day before. However, the head coach was sympathetic to Shashank Singh, who just hasn’t caught a break this season.
“Look, it’s been a bit of a flu for us to be honest. We’ve taken a lot of catches so far this season. The lads have worked exceptionally hard over there and poor old Shashank, it just seems like chances are chasing him everywhere he goes. He’s sitting under the high ball,” Ponting said.
“He’s missed a couple of games with his left hamstring so it’s taken him about a week and a half to recover from that. He’s done all his work in the last week to get physically right and we’ve really stepped up the catching sessions over the last five or six days,” Ponting added.
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Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
06 May 2026 20:44 IST
