While tensions rise between India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and ex Australia captain Ricky Ponting, former cricketer Brad Haddin has explained what has been the cause of this clash. It all began after Gambhir issued a response to Ponting regarding the comments made on Indian star batsman Virat Kohli’s form which had periods of worry prior to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Gambhir asked him to mind his business and focus on boxes down under, soon after which the great batter put Gambhir in his place, calling him a prickly guy.
Gambhir played for the Delhi Capitals under Ponting in 2018 which was his last season as a player in the Indian Premier League (IPL). That season he could only feature in half of the matches with the rest being led by Shreyas Iyer who took charge in the other games.
However, Haddin teased to lift the lid on the backstory between the two, which he reveal in the coming days.
“There are arguments of why Gambhir would want to do something like build up the us against them. 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 are to build an us versus them. I know the backstory. I’ll tell you, just wait till the end of the week. There was a little elbow, suspensions and fines,’ Haddin said on LiSTNR Sport Podcast.
In fact, Haddin likened Gambhir to another person, this time an Australian rugby coach, Wayne Bennett, who tried to play the role of a lightning rod for his players.
“Every coach does have his own style, Wayne Bennett as an example. So, I think we are not really discussing Rohit Sharma or Vittor Kohli. Instead, it’s Gambhir and Ricky Ponting talk. With Gambhir, he has bitten back, taken the pressure away from the team. It is all about them now; it is about how prickly they are. And now he just might go away to prepare for his team. You’d like to think that he has very well thought out how they want to be ready, “ he pointed out.
While he did agree that Gambhir can be a ‘prickly character’ once in a while, Haddin however did not know if the latter was doing this consciously or unconsciously knowing that the pressure is real for his team after the loss against New Zealand in the series.
“We know he is a prickly character and can wind up. Is he doing this now so that it is not directed towards his teammates? I don’t know. Time will eventually resolve everything. If it is a case where someone is just reacting emotionally then that in itself is a concern. But in the case that he is doing that in order to push the focus away and turn it [the attention] from his team, that is a different issue,” he summarized.”
