Lockie Ferguson has represented five franchises in the Indian Premier League, with his joint-lowest representation coming for his current employers — Punjab Kings. The New Zealand speedster could only feature in four matches, before being ruled out of the 2025 edition of the tournament with an injury.
Yet, he has barely had a stint more memorable than that at Punjab Kings. The reason, he says, is the unwavering empowerment of bowlers under captain Shreyas Iyer.
During the course of the 2025 IPL season, the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen and Kuldeep Sen had all commended Iyer for backing the bowlers and imparting confidence.
Speaking in the same vein, Lockie Ferguson told The Quint in an exclusive conversation:
It was great to play for Punjab Kings, and under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer. Shreyas is someone who leads the team with his actions. He likes to take the game head on and always backs his bowler, so it is a pleasure to play alongside him. As a bowler, you always want a captain who leads by example. Shreyas does just that, so he is the best a bowler can ask for.Lockie Ferguson
Iyer may not be a flagbearer of continuity — having led three different IPL teams — but his success has been continuous. It was under the 31-year-old’s captaincy that Delhi Capitals featured in their maiden final in 2021, Kolkata Knight Riders won their third title in 2024, and Punjab Kings qualified for the second final in their history in 2025.
So, what makes Iyer a successful captain? Ferguson has the answer.
What makes him a successful captain is his calmness. He is very solution-based. With the fast bowlers, for example, he will constantly have communication, he will constantly plan what we are going to do next to win the game. That gives everyone the confidence to do well.Lockie Ferguson
Though currently recovering from an injury he sustained in India’s tour to Australia, Iyer is likely to be fit in time for the IPL, and Ferguson is hopeful of another marvelous season from his captain.
Shreyas did great last season, and it was translated into the team doing well also. Most of the squad has been retained from last season, so I am hopeful that we will have another amazing season at Punjab Kings.Lockie Ferguson
‘Ricky Ponting Is a Great Man Manager’
Barring Shreyas, Lockie Ferguson attributes Punjab Kings’ renaissance to coach Ricky Ponting, under whose stewardship, Ferguson played and won the Major League Cricket title for Washington Freedom.
I have played under the coaching of Ricky Ponting in Major League Cricket as well, and it is amazing to be coached by one of the greats of the game. We have to realise that it is not easy to transition from being a great player to a great coach. Not many people have done that, but Ricky has been successful at it. He is a great man manager.Lockie Ferguson
‘Arshdeep Singh Is an Amazing Prospect for India’
While Ferguson’s season was abbreviated, Arshdeep Singh delivered consistently, finishing with 21 wickets and extending his tally as Punjab’s all-time leading wicket-taker with 97 scalps.
Asked what makes the left-armer so formidable, Ferguson was effusive:
Arshdeep Singh is much bigger than you think. He is tall, so he has that height advantage. He is a left-armer, which is always a plus, and to add to that, he can swing the ball both ways. This makes him a fantastic bowler. He has bowled in India throughout his career, which is a very challenging place to bowl in T20 cricket, but Arshdeep has always looked comfortable. What people might not know is that he is also a great hard-worker. Even in training, it is really tough to get the ball out of his hand. He just wants to keep bowling. So, I feel that he is an amazing prospect for India.Lockie Ferguson
‘New Zealand’s Transition Is in Safe Hands’
For many years, New Zealand’s pace department was being looked after, meticulously and tremendously, by the pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult. Yet, with the latter having announced his retirement from all formats of the international game, and the former now transfiguring towards a coaching profile, the Blackcaps are staring at a transition period.
Ferguson, however, remains assured that Southee and Boult’s legacy is in secure hands.
Transition is the nature of the game. We would love nothing more than Tim & Boulty to play forever, but they can’t, can they? We are never going to replace those two. What they have done for New Zealand cricket is huge. They have won so many games for us. They have shared their knowledge with the likes of me and Matt Henry — we have learnt a lot from those two, and now, it is our turn to pass on that knowledge to the younger bowlers. And I think you can see it being passed on. Will O’Rourke is doing great, Kyle Jamieson is fit again, he had troubles with injuries but has the potential to be world class, Ben Sears and Jacob Duffy have had a good couple of years, and Matt Henry himself has improved massively. Every game that he plays for New Zealand these days, he does amazing. It is a testament to New Zealand’s high performance programme that we are producing such quality fast bowlers, so it is exciting to be a pacer in New Zealand now, and I am happy to be in that stable.Lockie Ferguson
‘Bowling Workload Is a Real Thing’
IPL 2025 is not the only competition he has had to miss due to injuries this year, as he also was ruled out of the Champions Trophy owing to a hamstring injury. With such troubles being a recurring theme in his career, Ferguson is building an application to help pacers have better knowledge about their body and recovery.
Bowling workload is a real thing. I am currently developing an app, through which I am looking to help fast bowlers manage their workload in a better way. For a pacer, it takes weeks of training to get the body to adapt to match conditions. I’m having a lot of conversations regarding how we can manage things better, whether it is in rehab, or in terms of maintaining flexibility. I want to pass on the knowledge as a sign of respect to the pacers, because ours is a very difficult job.Lockie Ferguson
‘Desert Vipers Is a Great Franchise to Be a Part Of’
Currently leading the Desert Vipers in the International League T20, who have won all of their first five matches, Ferguson is hopeful to win the franchise their maiden title.
I am very excited to be with the Desert Vipers. It is a great group to lead — both from the point of view of the players that we’ve got, but also the support that we get from the coaches. It is a great franchise to be a part of, where we have a lot of fun outside of the field, which leads us to doing well in the field.Lockie Ferguson
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