The Punjab Kings have been one of those IPL teams who have failed to deliver on their promise for years. But while they are still to lift the trophy, they played very well last year which saw them finish runners-up to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Irfan Pathan thinks “leadership” has played a huge role in transforming the Punjab team.
Punjab are led by Shreyas Iyer, with the wily Ricky Ponting as their head coach.
Speaking on ‘IPL Today Live’, Pathan said: “Leadership has played a huge role in Punjab’s turnaround. You win half the IPL at the auction table. Big purses don’t necessarily mean you will always get what you want, but they did, and they reached the final.
“They took bold but important calls... and now you see all-rounders like Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen and Marcus Stoinis, along with a young Indian batting core. They also went all-out for Shreyas Iyer after deciding he would be the captain. There is clarity of thought, and I feel Punjab have started to move in the right direction,” the former India all-rounder added.