Punjab Kings batter Nehal Wadhera revealed that head coach Ricky Ponting was always there to put a hand on his shoulder during IPL 2026 despite a poor run with the bat. Wadhera could only manage 65 runs in eight matches (six innings) at an average of 10.83 in the previous season of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Wadhera had scored 369 runs in 15 innings in IPL 2025 at an average of 30.75 and a strike rate of 145.84, and thus had played a key role in taking Punjab Kings to the final of the tournament. However, he could not replicate the same show in IPL 2026.

“He was the first person to come to that player. Even though I wasn’t doing well this season, he came up to me himself, and I was really disappointed. I was talking to him, and he was like, ‘You are our senior player, we back you, and you just have to express yourself, enjoy yourself,’” Wadhera was quoted as saying by Rediff.

Wadhera said the PBKS’ support staff and his teammates are all very supportive, and thus one feels motivated to do well for the team and the country.

“So if you’re surrounded by such people around you like Ricky Ponting, Shreyas Iyer, Brad Haddin, and then we have James Hopes, the coaching staff, then all the players, Arshdeep Singh, Prabhsimran, Priyansh, Shashank, you feel really motivated to do well for the IPL, for the country,” he said.

Wadhera has certainly shown the skills to deliver as a finisher and he has done a decent job while playing for Punjab in the domestic circuit.