There are men who lead and there are men who simply follow— Ricky Ponting is certainly part of the former group. He might not have a bat in hand anymore, but Ponting’s influential leadership is etched all over the Mumbai Indians’ cricketing outlook.

The fiery Aussie is only two years in to the coaching scene but he has done a brilliant job so far. In year one, he strategized the team’s miraculous rise to victory after initial struggles. This year, from the initial losses to the sudden rejuvenated momentum, Ponting still feels that the team didn’t get off to the start they should have. “We didn’t really get off to the start that we were hoping for. In a tournament like this, you don’t want to leave yourself with too much of work to do in the back-half of the tournament. With Malinga ruled out, and then Lendl Simmons, we were looking for combinations that would work for us and it took us three or four games to figure that out. We’ve played pretty consistently as well in the recent matches.”

After formulating the right combination, Ponting didn’t allow changes to the team. Even though the rejigged lineup started off with a couple of losses, the three back-to-back victories that came after, was testimony to Ponting’s faith in his players. “I believe in backing players and showing faith in a group that I could believe in. At the start of the tournament, what you try and do is try and pick your best eleven. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but the fact is that the most consistent cricket we’ve played in the tournament so far is with a tightly-knit group of eleven players and in the last four or five games it’s given us results.” Ponting doesn’t look at the price tag that the player is listed at. Instead, he believes in choosing to look at their particular skillsets and how he can tune them to the team’s interests. “I’ve made it very clear to the entire team that to me all of them are exactly the same. I don’t care if they’ve played a 100 IPL games or haven’t played a game yet. I don’t care if they earn $10m a season or Rs. 10 lakh. It doesn’t matter. I’m looking for the best skill sets that can add value to the team.”

Ponting further goes on to state that there isn’t exactly a manual to coaching and figuring solutions to solving team dynamics. It’s purely a gut response on his part. “It’s all about gut feel. I have a good understanding of the game and what we need at different times. Little things that we’ve done in this tournament, like having Mitchell McClenaghan to bat at No.4 in the second game at Kolkata. That was just to go out and change the momentum against the spinners. Even Krunal Pandya has been moved up the order at times for the same reason. While these things are happening, the coaching staff is always out there, watching from the sidelines on how to improvise constantly. The idea is to keep figuring what is needed and find solutions. For me, there is no coaching manual.”

The head coach commended Rohit Sharma’s efforts in his crusade. Sharma is the Ponting’s go-to man especially when the team is asked to chase down a massive score. Rohit is always up for task and is ever-ready to get business done. “He’s very direct with his players, he gets his point across and it’s our job in the meetings to give him the right information. To top it, he’s one of the best players in this format and I think we’ve seen that quite often through this tournament once again.”

Ponting firmly believes that the format requires captains like Sharma, especially MI. “A format like this one needs a strong leader because quick, strong decisions have to be taken constantly and Rohit is a great choice for us. Tactically how a captain makes a difference matters a lot and all I could say is that Rohit is very much in tune with that.”

Despite the early setbacks and the mini resurgence, Ponting and the team have their task cut out for them. With just four games to go, Ponting needs to summon the best from himself as well as his squad.

Quotes taken from Ricky Ponting’s interview to The Times of India.