India head coach Gautam Gambhir has put his faith on under-fire senior batters, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, after criticism from former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting.
Ponting had recently expressed his concern on the form of both Kohli and Rohit. Commenting on Kohli’s extended lean patch, the Aussie legend suggested that any other player with only two centuries in five years would not have survived in the team.
Gambhir was also quizzed about the poor form of the two stalwarts in the press conference before leaving for Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The India chief coach termed Ponting's opinions on Indian cricket irrelevant, and affirmed that Kohli and Rohit have a lot of passion and hunger for the team.
"Not at all...Ricky Ponting should think about Australian cricket, what concerns he has for Indian cricket? Virat and Rohit are incredibly tough men. They've achieved a lot for Indian cricket and they will continue to achieve a lot," Gambhir told reporters.
"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 added.
In their last two tours of Australia, India had performed exceptionally well to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, the team find itself in a precarious position this time around after losing 0-3 to New Zealand at home.
The Rohit Sharma-led side lost the three consecutive Test matches in Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai. This outcome also marked the end of India’s remarkable streak of 18 consecutive home Test series victories.
After the debacle, reports suggested that there was some disagreement between Gambhir and the team management over some selections.
However, in the press conference, Gambhir said he is not feeling the heat and put his trust on "tough people" in the Indian dressing room.
"What difference does social media make in my life, and for anyone's life? When I took up this job, I always knew that it was going to be a highly difficult job and a highly prestigious job as well. I don't think as if I'm feeling the heat because my job is to be absolutely honest," Gambhir said.
"There are some incredibly tough people in that dressing room who have achieved some great things for the country and will continue to achieve some great things for the country. So it's an absolute honour to be coaching them and coaching India," he added.
