Ricky Ponting aims to build one of the greatest Punjab Kings teams in history. Ahead of their IPL 2025 opener against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, assistant coach Brad Haddin shared a similar vision.

"That's exciting to the players," Haddin said, when asked if Ponting's statement put pressure on them. "In this day and age, you want to challenge the player group to touch greatness. That's what we want to see everyday. We want to see them get better than they were yesterday, better than what they were the previous week.

"You have to set high expectations and high goals. The reason is we're happy with the group we've put together. We've been ultra impressed with what they've done at training camps. Now all they want to do is play cricket. They've had enough cricket in camps, they want to get out there and express themselves."

The Punjab Kings made a bold move by signing Shreyas Iyer for a staggering INR 26.75 crores, entrusting him with the captaincy of a revamped squad. The team blends experience—with players like Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh—with promising young talents such as Priyansh Arya and Suryansh Shedge. Adding to their depth, they’ve also stacked up on all-rounders, including Marco Jansen, Glenn Maxwell, and Marcus Stoinis.

When asked whether the strong Australian presence in the Kings’ support staff would help shape the team’s culture for success, assistant coach Brad Haddin had high praise for Iyer. Calling him a "driven captain," Haddin emphasized that Iyer would play a key role in setting the team's "standards" and "habits," paving the way for a winning mindset.

"We've got a driven captain who has had a lot of success, not just for India but in the competition and in this form of the game," Haddin said. "From the captain down, he has brought everyone together, the staff are on the same page as the players. From that point of view, what we're seeing is a high[-quality] group being led by the standards and habits of the captain."

"If you have a look at the way IPL has developed, especially with impact player, it allows players up top to play with a lot more freedom," he said. "Last year, we saw an increase in powerplay numbers. This year, it'll increase again. From our point of view, it's giving guys an opportunity to express themselves, make sure they play brave and play what's in front of them, and not worry too much about what's happening.

"This is a new group, we've had a brand new auction, we've got every player that we want to play different roles. One of those is a couple of guys to play in those six overs, you'll be quite excited to see when it comes. Whoever we put up there will be exciting, they'll play a brave brand of cricket, dynamic at the top. That's what we want them to do."