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Ponting points to power of bonding

Australian legend had simple recipe for success for Mumbai Indians in this year's IPL

Ricky Ponting has revealed the secret to his success as a head coach – a good old-fashioned team bonding session.

The Australia legend took the reins with Mumbai Indians for this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League after previously being involved with the club as a player and in an assistant coach capacity, and promptly steered them to their second IPL title.

Quick Single: Mumbai Indians surge to IPL glory

The outcome was all the more impressive considering the side’s disastrous beginning to the season, in which they lost four straight matches.

But it was at that point that Ponting seized his opportunity to attempt to unite his charges.

“When we got together as a group, our first four or five games were really bunched together, we never had any time to get away and do anything as a team,” Ponting told ESPN ahead of the final.

“So when we got our first break I made sure the boys got out together and the boys had a couple of good nights out, a bit of bonding stuff and from that moment on … it’s not just that, but from that moment on things started to turn around.”

On the back of a string of half-centuries from West Indian opener Lendl Simmons, a series of cameos from big-hitting pair Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard, and the impact of international bowling trio Lasith Malinga (24 wickets), Harbhajan Singh (18) and Mitchell McLenaghan (18), Mumbai surged to 10 wins from their final 12 matches, including a comfortable final success over highly-fancied opponents Chennai Super Kings.

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“It has been a great turnaround but it has nothing to do with me; full credit to the players,” Ponting told the official IPL website earlier this month.

“We have worked really hard – we worked hard before the first game as well, but things didn’t quite go to plan.

“We knew that if we can string a couple of wins together, we will be able to come back strong. Full credit to the players to show that kind of character when our backs were to the wall.”

The 40-year-old said after the final that his return to professional cricket via the Mumbai coaching role had satisfied his competitive urges.

“Because I was on the road and playing for 20-odd years, just to have that all stop and have no competitiveness in my life was a little bit hard to deal with,” he explained.

“I love the game and I love working with younger blokes.

“To come here and have the opportunity to work with some of the young boys … you see the joy in their faces today and that’s what it’s all about.”

And it seems the enjoyment has been reciprocal, with a number of Mumbai players expressing their appreciation of Ponting as a coach, including his former nemesis Harbhajan Singh.

"He is a very positive guy,” Harbhajan said earlier in the tournament. “(That’s) the way he played cricket throughout his career. 

“He has been very positive about things whether you win or lose.

“He always says give your 100 per cent and that's what the boys are looking to do.

"The boys had lost four games and yet he stayed calm and composed.

“He has been fantastic with the team.

 “Moreover, under Ponting's guidance, many youngsters like Unmukt Chand would help themselves to become a better cricketer, especially in the backdrop of his achievements of winning three World Cups for Australia.

"I hope under his guidance lot of youngsters will know how to bat in different situations, which will help them to become better cricketers.”

Australia T20 opener Aaron Finch was similarly enthusiastic.

“He was outstanding,” Finch said. “So energetic, so thorough.

“I've never worked with a guy who is as intense about all aspects of the game.

“The passion he has for cricket is unbelievable. His knowledge is second to none.

“He was awesome to work with. I did some batting with him one day and it took him about 10 seconds to pick up on something just really tiny that could have made a difference and we worked pretty well for the next couple of sessions to really make me better.

“It was great. He was so well planned and prepared for every single game. That can be quite tough in a competition where you play-travel-play-travel over and over.

“But he was unbelievable and hopefully he has me back at Mumbai next year and we can work together again.

“It was a great experience. To learn from one of the all-time greats of the game was outstanding.”