Ricky Ponting hits back at Gautam Gambhir’s ‘minding own enterprise’ recommendation, says, ‘He is…’

Ahead of the extremely anticipated Border Gavaskar Trophy, which begins on November 22 in Perth, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has sparked a fiery change with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting. The state of affairs bought worse after Ponting raised issues about Virat Kohli’s current kind, which has been a wrestle for the batting star in 2024.

Gambhir stood up for Kohli and Rohit Sharma throughout a pre-departure press convention, dismissing Ponting’s critiques as unwarranted. “What is Ponting doing in Indian cricket?” Gambhir emphatically mentioned that he thinks he ought to think about Australian cricket and that he feels the duo can ship, though they haven’t been at their greatest in current instances. Kohli’s numbers for the yr are miserable: 488 runs in 25 innings throughout codecs at a mean of 20.33, together with a disastrous outing within the current Test sequence in opposition to New Zealand, the place he managed simply 93 runs at a mean of 15.50.

Gambhir’s remarks weren’t aimed at Kohli personally, mentioned Ponting, who has a historical past with the Indian coach and reiterated that his feedback weren’t a private assault. ‘I used to be a bit stunned with the response… he is fairly a prickly character, however he is a category participant, and he is performed nicely in Australia earlier than and can wish to play nicely once more,’ Ponting mentioned.

The change comes as Kohli and Sharma face mounting stress forward of a troublesome sequence in opposition to Australia. Both gamers are beneath the scanner to return to kind and lead the group successfully after India’s current 0-3 whitewash in opposition to New Zealand remains to be contemporary of their minds. Both gamers are very obsessed with their recreation and are dedicated to getting higher, they usually have that starvation for achievement, mentioned Gambhir.