India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Monday (November 11) put his faith on under-fire senior batters, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, after criticism from former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting.

Commenting on Kohli’s extended lean patch, Ponting had suggested that any other player with only two centuries in five years would not have survived in the team.

Gambhir termed Ponting's opinions on Indian cricket irrelevant, and affirmed that Kohli and Rohit have a lot of passion and hunger for the team.

“What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket? He should think about Australian cricket. I don't have any concerns. They (Kohli and Rohit) are incredibly tough men; they've achieved a lot for Indian cricket and are going to achieve a lot in future as well," Gambhir said during an interaction with media before leaving for Australia.

Now, Ponting has responded to Gambhir’s comments by calling the Indian coach "prickly character".

“I was surprised to read the reaction but knowing the coach, Gautam Gambhir ... he’s quite a prickly character, so I’m not surprised it was him who said something back," Ponting told 7News.

The Australian legend also clarified that his intentions were not to demean Virat Kohli by any means. "In no way was it a dig at him (Kohli). I actually followed it up by saying he’s played well in Australia and he’ll be keen to bounce back over here...If you ask Virat, I'm sure he would be a little bit concerned that he hasn't been able to make the same amount of hundreds as he has in previous years," Ponting said.

"So it's amazing how little things can get cut up, but he's a class player and he's played well in Australia in the past.”

Virat Kohli was troubled by the Bangladesh and Kiwi spinners in the recently held home Test season, returning with scores of 6, 17, 47, 29*, 0, 70, 1, 17, 4 and 1. As a result, his Test average has dropped to 47.83. He currently has 9040 runs to his name from 118 Tests, including 29 centuries.

Kohli’s Test record may have slumped, but he loves the rivalry against Australia and has played some of his best Test knocks Down Under.

The star batter has played 25 Test innings on Australian soil, amassing 1352 runs at an average of 54.08 with six hundreds and four half-centuries. He was the captain of the Indian team that won the first-ever Test series in Australia in 2018-19.