Ricky Ponting's 'dinner' texts on WhatsApp; Shreyas Iyer's 'taken for granted' motto: What Nehal Wadhera cherishes

Nehal Wadhera has no regrets but says he could have altered his approach a little to give Punjab Kings a better chance to chase down 190.

Nehal Wadhera, 24, emerged as one of the most standout performers in the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2025. The stylish uncapped batter scored 369 runs in 16 games for Punjab Kings, striking the ball at 145.85, smashing two half-centuries and smacking 28 boundaries and 21 sixes. His performance in the middle order went a long way in ensuring Punjab Kings' path to the final, where unfortunately for Wadhera and the team, they fell short against Rajat Patidar's Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Wadhera had just one bad outing in the entire tournament, and sadly for the youngster, it came when it mattered the most – the final against RCB. The batter couldn't quite find his mojo, managing 15 runs off 18 balls.

A little more fluency and Nehal Wadhera could have won the IPL final for Punjab Kings (PTI)

Still, Wadhera can hold his head high. The middle-order batter, who first garnered attention while playing for the Mumbai Indians in the 2023 edition of the tournament, had revealed during one of the IPL 2025 games that he initially thought that he wouldn't get a chance in the Playing XI. Eventually, a conversation with head coach Ricky Ponting changed it all around.

Wadhera repaid PBKS's faith after being bought by the franchise for INR 4.20 crore at the mega auction last November. With the likes of Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh, Wadhera formed a solid Indian core at PBKS, ensuring that the franchise doesn't have to worry much for the next IPL edition.

The Hindustan Times caught up with Nehal Wadhera a week after the IPL final, where he spoke about how he sees his own growth, the bond with head coach Ponting, and what makes Shreyas Iyer such a great leader.

Excerpts:

Punjab Kings fell short at the final hurdle. But how do you see the entire campaign for yourself and PBKS?

Definitely, we reached the finals. After 11 years, I think it's a huge achievement for us. The key results didn't go in our favour but if we talk about the campaign, it was really good. I think we were the team that scored more than 200 runs in 7 matches, and as a batting group, we scored 3000 runs in just one season. I think it's a huge achievement for us.

Overall, apart from the finals, if we look at our entire season, it was really good. We defended a total of 111 against KKR. I think that was one of the best games I have ever played. Along with that, the atmosphere of the team, the captain, and our coach was amazing. I think, in the coming years, you will see Punjab consistently qualify for and win tournaments.

You had revealed that you carried just one kit bag for IPL 2025 since you weren't expecting to play. How did you get to know that you will consistently feature in the playing XI?

I didn't feel like I would play as an impact player in the second game. Luckily, we bowled first, and we were chasing. In the middle, Ricky Ponting told me that I would be the Impact Player. As I said in the earlier interviews, I just had my one cricket kit. I only took one. Otherwise, players usually take a spare one. So, from there, I knew that sometimes, this thing helps you when you are not in that zone.

You know that you are playing freely. I think that thing helped me at that time. There was no pressure on me. I went straight to him, and I was like, I have to give him support. The championship was set in that game. Ricky Ponting told me that he wanted me to finish the game. I told him that I would do that. After that, I started playing my natural game. I used to punish the loose balls.

Talking about the final, did you feel that the pitch changed in the second innings?

I totally blame myself. If I had played better at that time, we could have definitely won. I won't blame the pitch because RCB scored 190 runs. I think I was just taking the game deep, and I believe in finishing games by taking it deep. I think this was one of those days when I couldn't finish the game. When I had to accelerate in all the tournaments, whenever I accelerated, I think it paid off except for the last game.

Some days, it doesn't click, and I think it was the same day when it didn't happen. But I don't have any regrets that I was taking the game deep, and that situation was fine because the wickets were falling, but I think I could have accelerated a little more, which I have learnt and analysed. I will do that in the future and that will help me and the team.

Punjab Kings gave several uncapped players a chance in the playing XI. What made you all thrive in this year's IPL? Can you talk about the culture within the team?

I don't think you can say that there are uncapped or capped players. I think all the IPL players are equally good. All the players, whether capped or uncapped, play to win and to perform well. Our Indian domestic cricket is so good that when we go to the IPL, we don't feel like we are in a different league because our domestic cricket is so competitive. I don't think there is anything specific.

Neither did any of our players think like that. Nobody within the team talks about these terms - capped and uncapped players. But at the end of the day, cricket is a game and the one who does well on that day only wins. We were all positive. We just wanted to win and perform well. We didn't care about which bowler we were playing or which batter we were bowling to.

Shreyas Iyer is the toast of the town. What makes him such a good leader?

You all have seen Shreyas' captaincy, but I think an actual captain is a leader, and his captaincy and leadership can be seen from off the field and the way he carries himself off the field. We have seen him closely in hotels, and we spend a lot of time together, and you also know the statements which he gives. I think he gave a statement which I liked a lot and I have seen that he applies it. The statement he gave was, 'You don't have to make yourself so much available for people that they start taking you for granted'.

I think the statement that he is giving and applying it in real life off the field I think his confidence goes up just like that. The way he behaves off the field, his attitude is reflected in the game and I think a good captain, his attitude, the way he speaks, the way he handles people, if he is good, he is automatically a good leader and I think he is a perfect example for that.

Would you rate your knock against RCB on a tricky pitch in Bengaluru as the best you batted in the IPL 2025 season?

Yes, actually my favourite innings this year was against RCB because I can say that it was a difficult track to bat. At that time, the pressure was building on our team, and when I went to bat, I told the coach I would finish the game, and I will take all the pressure off the team. My personal favourite innings were definitely against RCB and Rajasthan Royals. The latter one was also very good. I think that time we lost 3 wickets and the acceleration that we did in that game was also good.

Did you get a chance to speak to Virat Kohli after the IPL 2025 final?

I congratulated him after the final. The RCB players were really happy. I just congratulated him, and that's it. He met my parents and my brothers, and I requested him to meet them and asked him whether he could get a picture taken with them. He won the trophy after 18 years, and I think he deserved to celebrate with his family and with his wife, so I didn't want to interrupt much.

Ricky Ponting. How was it like to work with him? How is he as a coach?

Ricky Ponting is one of the best coaches with whom I have worked because a cricketer who has been so successful in his game, he knows the pressure we are playing with. If your innings is not going well, he has that empathy for a player. He knows what a player goes through so I think he knows the right words, the right conversations, how to talk to the player and keep his morale up.

He would always he would be the first one to text on the WhatsApp group, saying, 'Dinner is on me, and if anyone wants to have some dinner with me, come, you can join me'. Even his family was with him, but still, I think as a parent or as a family, he is giving so much importance to our players, he is saying 'you can spend time with me, you can come in my room anytime dinner is on me'. This speaks really highly about him. I really enjoyed working with him.

Lastly, I have to ask you this: Is the T20 game quickly moving towards the batters? In the IPL 2025 season, all the chatter was about which team would breach the 300 mark.

We didn't think that we had to score 300. The day the total of 300 has to be scored will happen on that day. It depends on the momentum, if you play freely, if you keep playing your natural game. If you talk about it becoming a batter's game, I don't think you can say that. Bowlers like Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Krunal Pandya, these bowlers have been performing well consistently.

I think this is an equally paced game. I think you just have to believe in yourself that whatever track you give me I will do well in it. It's all about your own mindset and your own belief. I think I don't think you can blame anything. At the end of the day, you have to perform, and if you want to play for India, you have to stand out. If all bowlers are going for runs, be that bowler who applies the chokehold and stands up. If other batters are not scoring consistently, then be the game-changer for your own team.