Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has said no to coaching the Indian team and explained his reason as well. The BCCI advertised the post last week and has set May 27 as the deadline for the applications.
This was after Rahul Dravid reportedly declined another extension to his contract as Indian team head coach. Dravid has been at the helm since 2021 and his tenure ended in 2023 after the ODI World Cup. However, BCCI and Dravid agreed on a six-month extension till the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.
Some other high-profile names such as Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming, Lucknow Super Giants head coach Justin Langer, and Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gautam Gambhir have also been talked about as potential candidates for the position that Rahul Dravid will vacate after India's T20 World Cup campaign next month.
Ricky Ponting was also one of the names, BCCI was interested in, but Australia revealed that he was approached for the soon-to-be-vacant India head coach position but he has declined the offer as it doesn't fit into his "lifestyle" right now.
Ponting has been head coach of Delhi Capitals for seven seasons in IPL now and has been Australia's interim T20 coach in the past.
"I've seen a lot of reports about it. Normally these things pop up on social media before you even know about them, but there were a few little one-on-one conversations during the IPL, just to get a level of interest from me as to whether I would do it.
I'd love to be a senior coach of a national team, but with the other things that I have in my life and wanting to have a bit of time at home…everyone knows if you take a job working with the Indian team you can't be involved in an IPL team, so it would take that out of it as well.
Also, a national head coach is a 10 or 11-month of the year job, and as much as I'd like to do it, it just doesn't fit into my lifestyle right now and the things that I enjoy doing,” Ponting told ICC.
Ponting said he discussed the offer with his son and he seemed game for a move to India.
"My family and my kids have spent the last five weeks over at the IPL with me and they come over every year and I had a whisper to my son about it. I said, 'Dad's been offered the Indian coaching job' and he said, 'Just take it, Dad, we would love to move over there for the next couple of years'.
That's how much they love being over there and the culture of cricket in India, but right now it probably doesn't exactly fit into my lifestyle," he added.
The BCCI has set May 27 as the last date for submitting applications.
"I've seen a few other names thrown about as well. Justin Langer's name got thrown in yesterday, and Stephen Fleming's name has been thrown about a little bit. Gautam Gambhir's name has been thrown around a little bit the last couple of days as well. But I think it'd be unlikely for me just on the reasons that I've given there,” Ponting concluded.
(PTI inputs)
