The anticipation around the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy is palpable. India are Australia are slated to square off in a five-match Test series for the first time in over three decades.
The marquee series is slated to get underway on November 22 in Perth and the action will then shift to Adelaide (December 6-10), where both teams will face each other in a Day-Night Test. The last three Tests are set to take place in Brisbane (December 14-18), Melbourne (December 26-30), and Sydney (January 3-7).
Ahead of the series, the war of words between India head coach Gautam Gambhir and former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has spiced up the contest.
Notably, Gambhir took umbrage with comments made by Ponting on Indian batting stalwarts – Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
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.
However, 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 had said during an interaction with media before leaving for Australia.
Now, Ponting’s compatriot and former teammate Adam Gilchrist has come to his defence, saying that the former World Cup winning captain was well within his rights to comment on Indian cricket.
“Punter can comment on anything he wants,” said Gilchrist on the Club Prairie Fire podcast. “I think he has earned the right to comment on most aspects of cricket. I love this, this is going to get the popcorn out for the rest of the summer.”
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden also echoed similar views. “We are paid to make an opinion, make a comment and make a call about the game we know and love,” Hayden stated.
It is worth mentioning here that Ricky Ponting himself has responded to Gautam 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.”
