Gautam Gambhir replies to Ricky Ponting’s Virat Kohli comment - India’s head coach says he has nothing to do with Indian cricket and should think about Australian cricket

Hyderabad: Indian cricket team’s head coach Gautam Gambhir said former Australian captain Ricky Ponting should focus on Australian cricket and opined that the former batter should refrain from talking about Indian cricket and Virat Kohli, in particular.

The former Australian World Cup winning captain had said that Kohli’s recent form – where the batter struggled to get past the 50-run mark – is a cause of concern.

Speaking on the ICC Review show, Ponting said Kohli’s recent form is a concern. “I saw a stat the other day about Virat (Kohli), 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 had said.

Ponting added that Kohli is an undisputed great of the game and added that he expects the former Indian captain to get back to form in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, that starts with the first Test match in Perth on November 22. “There wouldn’t be anyone else probably even playing international cricket as a top-order batsman that’s only scored two (three) Test match hundreds in five years. I’ve said it before about Virat (Kohli), you don’t ever question the greats of the game. There’s no doubt, he’s a great player. 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 (Kohli) make runs in the first game,” Ponting explained.

Gambhir replied to Ponting’s comment and said he has nothing to do with Indian cricket. “What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket? I think he should think about Australian cricket. More importantly, I have got no concerns whatsoever for Virat (Kohli) and Rohit (Sharma),” Gambhir said during an interaction before leaving with the Indian team for Australia.

Kolhi’ last few years have been underwhelming with the former Indian captain scoring his last Test century in July 2023. He has also scored only one score of more than 50 this year – 70 against Bangladesh in Kanpur. In 2024, the 36-year-old has a Test match average of 22.72 in six matches, the lowest in his career history.