Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], May 27 (ANI): After finishing in the top two in the group standings for the first time in 11 years, Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting lavished praise on 'quality' franchise skipper Shreyas Iyer and how hard it will be to fill Marco Jansen's absence in the IPL 2025 playoffs.

The dynamic duo of Ponting and Shreyas, who worked wonders at Delhi Capitals in 2020, continued to reap success with Punjab in the 18th season of the cash-rich league.

Punjab took a step closer to entering the elusive dreamland after staging a thumping 7-wicket triumph over the Mumbai Indians at Jaipur's Sawai Mansingh Stadium and confirming a top-two finish, allowing them to bite the cherry twice in the playoffs.

The former Australian was all in praise of Shreyas, who has a 'sparkle for captaincy' and pretty much proved why they were willing to spend 26.75 crore during last year's mega auction.

'It was pretty obvious with the amount of money we spent on him (during the auctions), we wanted him here. I've worked with him in the Delhi Capitals, but didn't get the trophy there, but he's a man who has been so good and has a sparkle for captaincy. He has led this team superbly, he has led the team from the front, has gained the trust of the players, and that's a big thing,' Ponting said after the match.

Punjab will line up in the playoffs without Jansen, who is among South Africa's World Test Championship Final-bound players. Despite the Proteas star's 'big' absence, who has chipped in with 16 scalps throughout the group phase, Ponting believes there is enough depth to fill the gap.

'Jansen is a high-quality individual, but it's tough to replace him. Got Jamieson in tonight to ensure he got a game before Marco left. Every team's missing players; we'd like to think we've got good depth and be able to cover for Marco despite it being a big miss,' he added.

Punjab's uncapped opening pair, Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya, have done the bulk of the scoring runs, which has paved the way for their success.

Even though Prabhsimran misfired against MI, Priyansh brought thunder down the ground from the clear sky with his rollicking 62(35), which allowed Punjab to gun down the 185-run target on a seemingly sluggish surface.

'It's obvious to see that it's a quality team heading in the same direction. Prabhsimran is 23-24 and has 500 runs. I said maybe four or five games, and Priyansh is one of the finds of the tournament. Hard to argue with now. Fearless young talent sees and hits the ball,' Ponting said. (ANI)