India head coach Gautam Gambhir has hit back at Ricky Ponting for his comments on the current form of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Gambhir questioned Ponting's interest in Indian cricket while praising the veteran cricketers.
Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai, Gambhir said, “What does Ponting to has to do with Indian cricket? I think he should think about Australian cricket and more importantly have got no concerns whatsoever for Virat and Rohit. I think they are incredibly tough men. They've achieved a lot for Indian cricket and they will continue to achieve a lot in future as well.”
“I think for me, the most important thing is that they still work really hard and they still passionate, they still want to achieve a lot more and that is something which is very important. The hunger in that dressing room is incredibly important for me. And for the entire group of people as well in that dressing in dressing rooms. And I feel there is a lot of hunger and especially after what has happened in the last series,” The Indian head coach added
Notably, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have come under fire after a poor run in the recently concluded Test series at home against New Zealand and Bangladesh. Critics have pointed out that the two stalwarts of Indian cricket haven't quite lived up to their reputations in recent years.
Things have come to a point where it seems likely that Virat and Rohit could even be on their way out of the red ball team. According to a recent report by news agency PTI, Kohli, Rohit and other senior players like Ravindra Jadja and Ravichandran Ashwin could be dropped from the squad for the tour of England if they fail to perform during the BGT 2024.