New Delhi: Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir slammed former Australia cricketer Ricky Ponting for questioning Virat Kohli’s form and place in Indian team, saying that the legendary player should be concerned about his country’s state of cricket. Ponting had had recently said that Kohli’s form is a concern for Team India, highlighting the fact that the batting ace has scored only two Test centuries in last five years.
Ponting’s comments were not just limited to criticism as he showed faith in Kohli saying that he has it in him to roar back to his original form and there would be no better place than Australia to do it. Ponting also said that if it wasn’t for Kohli, surviving in the red-ball format was tough with such a poor 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 spoke in a recent episode of the ICC Review.
Gambhir, who was addressing the media on Monday before departing for Australia, backfired at Ponting when he was asked about the remark. “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 and Rohit,” Gambhir said as quoted by PTI.
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#TeamIndia head coach @GautamGambhir has clear expectations from not just @ImRo45 or @imVkohli, but from the entire team! 💪
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Kohli’s Test woes
The 36-year-old batter has only one fifty this year, which was a 70 against Bangladesh in the Kanpur Test. He hit his last Test century in July 2023 against the West Indies. Kohli averaged above 50 in Test cricket from 2016 to 2019, and since then, has just accumulated only 1838 runs from 34 Tests at an average of 31.68, hitting only two centuries. In the ongoing year, the right-handed batter averaged only 22.72 in six matches, which is the lowest in his career.
Despite the dismal numbers, Ponting didn’t shy away from the fact that how class of a player is Kohli. “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. 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,” Ponting added.
Gautam Gambhir came into the defence of Virat Kohli when he was asked about Ricky Ponting’s recent comments on the star batter’s form in Test cricket. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
