Former cricket player Brad Haddin has disclosed the cause of the recent verbal spat between former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and India head coach Gautam Gambhir.
It all began when Gambhir responded to Ponting's remarks regarding the troubling form of India's top batsman Virat Kohli in the run-up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Gambhir asked him to concentrate on Australian cricket instead, before the legendary batter fired a sharp retort, calling the India coach a prickly character.
In 2018, Gambhir played for the Delhi Capitals under Ponting, which ended up being his last season as a player in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Meanwhile, Brad Haddin talked about the conversation between Gautam Gambhir and Ricky Ponting and teased that there might be some ‘suspensions and fines’ in the coming days when Australia and India clash in the five-Test series.
"Gambhir is a character that would use this as an us versus them mentality. And you expect your coach to stick up for the players. His reaction was prickly there, and you don't need your coach to get caught up in that sort of scenario unless his tactics is to build an us versus them. I know what the backstory. I'll tell you; just wait till later in the week. There was a little elbow, suspensions, and fines," Haddin said on LiSTNR Sport Podcast.
Haddin also likened Gambhir to Australian rugby coach Wayne Bennett, who frequently attempts to deflect his team's attention by assuming the lead.
"It's out of the Wayne Bennett style of coaching. So we're not really talking now about Rohit Sharma or [Virat] Kohli. We're talking about Gambhir and Ricky [Ponting]. With Gambhir, he has bitten back, and taken the pressure away from his team. It's all about him now; it's about how prickly he is. And now he might be able to go and prepare his team. You'd like to believe that he has a very clear plan on how they want to ready," he pointed out.
Brad Haddin did agree with Ricky Ponting, that Gambhir was a "prickly character" at times, the former keeper-batter kept wondering if the latter was intentionally doing this, particularly because his squad is under a lot of pressure following their series loss against New Zealand.
"We know he's a prickly character and can wind himself up. Is he doing this now to take it away from his teammates? I don't know. Only time will tell. If it's an emotional reaction, then there's a problem. But if he's doing it to deflect things away and take it [attention] away from his team, that's a different thing," he added.
The BGT 2024 begins on November 22 with the first Test to be played at the Optus Stadium, Perth.
