Punjab Kings batter Shashank Singh echoed coach Ricky Ponting’s words after the team reached Qualifier 1 on Monday, saying that the feeling was surreal but the job was far from over. Punjab became the first team to secure a berth in Qualifier 1 after defeating Mumbai and now await their opponents for the match which can either be Gujarat Titans or Royal Challengers Bengaluru depending on RCB’s result vs LSG on Tuesday.
“It feels surreal. The best thing is, obviously, we manifested this as a team – not just individually, but as a unit. Right after the auction, we created a WhatsApp group and talked about winning the title this year. Our first aim was to finish in the top two, and we’ve cleared that hurdle. Manifesting is one thing, believing is another. We worked hard for this, and credit goes to every single individual associated with . It’s not easy finishing in the top two of the league like the ,” Shashank said at the post match press conference.
“Finishing top two is just half job done. We want to win. On June 4 at 12am when we are sitting in press conference having won the title, I can say that yes we are on top of the world,” he added.
Earlier, coach Ponting had warned ‘they haven’t achieved anything yet’ after the win. Having been a perennially under-achieving side, Punjab under new captain and coach Ponting have made their first play-offs since 2014, which was the last time they made the final as well.
“I’m obviously very pleased for the group,” Ponting told the host broadcasters after the match. “It’s a lot of hard work that goes into being able to achieve something like this as a team. I think it’s pretty obvious to see that this is a really talented team that are all on the same page and heading in the same direction. I mean yeah, it’s a great achievement till now but really, if you look back, we haven’t achieved anything yet. That’s the one thing I’ve been saying to the players since the moment we qualified,” he added.
