NEW DELHI: Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir, while addressing the media in Mumbai on Monday, ahead of the team’s departure to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, slammed former Australia captain Ricky Ponting for his comments on India stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Ponting had recently expressed his concern on the form of both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma who have a had a prolonged poor run with the bat.
Ponting had commented on Kohli’s form, suggesting that any other player with only two centuries in five years would not have survived in the team.
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Speaking in a recent episode of the ICC Review, Ponting said if it was not for Kohli, surviving in Test cricket was tough with such a dismal record.
“I saw a stat the other day about Virat, it said he’s only scored two (three) Test hundreds in the last five years. That didn’t seem right to me, but if that is right, then that is, I mean, that’s a concern,” Ponting said.
“There wouldn’t be anyone else probably even playing international cricket as a top-order batsman that’s only scored two Test match hundreds in five years.”
“I’ve said it before about Virat, you don’t ever question the greats of the game. There’s no doubt, he’s a great of the game. He loves playing against Australia. In fact, I know he loves playing against Australia. And as I said, his record (in Australia) is very good. If there’s a time for him to turn it around, it’d be this series.
“So I wouldn’t be surprised to see Virat make runs in the first game.”
Replying to a query, Gambhir said, “What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket (on the Australian’s comments on Rohit and Virat’s form). Rohit and Virat are incredibly tough men.”
“They still work really hard. They’re still passionate. They still want to achieve a lot more and that is something which is very important. The hunger in that dressing room is incredibly important for me and for the entire group of people as well in that dressing room. I feel there’s a lot of hunger, especially after what has happened in the last series,” he further added.
Kohli has had a forgettable 2024 so far, with just two international fifties to his name and a poor home Test season in tune-up to the Australia tour.
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His trouble against spinners mounted in the 10 Test innings he played against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
While India swept Bangladesh 2-0 in the Test series, Kohli could only aggregate 99 runs at an average of 33.00 with a highest of 47.
The New Zealand series was the one to forget for the Indian players and the team, suffering a 0-3 whitewash in a three-Test series at home for the first time.
In his six innings against the Kiwis, Kohli’s bat failed to make an impression once again, except one innings where he scored 70. But he could accumulate just 23 runs in the other five knocks, aggregating a mere 93 runs at an average of 15.50.
While many have talked about the Australia tour could be 36-year-old Kohli’s last appearance in Tests, the batting icon will be focused on rediscovering his form in red-ball cricket during the Border Gavaskar Trophy beginning November 22 in Perth.
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Rohit’s dismal run with the bat has evidently affected his captaincy, as he also admitted that he wasn’t at his best as a skipper.
Talking about numbers, in the four innings of the two Test matches that India won against Bangladesh at home, the 37-year-old Rohit could score just 43 runs at a sorry average of 10.50, with a highest of 23.
In the three-Test series against the Kiwis, which saw India hit a historic low by getting whitewashed for the first time in a three- Test series on home soil, Rohit’s bat produced just 91 runs at an average of 15.16 and a highest of 52, which is his only score of 50 or more in the last 10 Test innings.
India will open the five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy with the first match in Perth, beginning November 22.
India need to win 4 Tests in Australia to directly qualify for the World Test Championships final that is scheduled to be held at Lord’s in June 2025.
