Former Australian cricket team Ricky Ponting took a fresh jibe at India head coach Gautam Gambhir amid their ongoing feud over the former's comments on Virat Kohli's recent form. Following Ponting's comments on Kohli's disappointing run ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Gambhir asked him to concentrate on Australian cricket instead. Ponting responded by calling Gambhir a 'prickly character' and now, he has said that the India coach's comments were influenced by the recent Test series loss to New Zealand. Speaking on the podcast show 'The Run Home with Joel & Fletch', Ponting clarified that his remarks about Kohli but did not miss the opportunity to take a dig at Gambhir.
“I'm not sure if I mentioned a couple of them, but I reckon he's just throwing me in the deep end, trying to find their two most experienced and make sure when they come out, they put that back on me.”
Ponting said that his comments were not presented in its entirety and added that he believes Gambhir misinterpreted them and reacted after the loss against New Zealand.
“I was asked the other night if I was concerned about Virat Kohli's form. A day before, I had read his stats from the last five years, so it was clear in my mind. I think he made only two (three) centuries in the last five years. His average in India is now down to 30 from 90, during this period. So yes, I would be concerned. And I said if you ask him about his form, he would be concerned because it is nowhere near what it used to be. But then I said since he loves playing in Australia and has a great record here, so if there ever was a tour where he could turn things around, it would be this."
"But they never talked about the second part. Then Gambhir went and faced the press having just lost against New Zealand. The hair on the back of his neck is already standing up. We got a bit of history as well, but he took a chance to fire back at me,” he added.