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Speaking ahead of the departure of the second batch of the Indian cricket team for the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, Team India Head Coach Gautam Gambhir stood in support of the senior batters in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after former Australia captain Ricky Ponting made shocking comments.
Notably, Ponting had indirectly questioned on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s poor run-of-form. He opined that any other player in place of Kohli would not have survived in the team had he scored just two centuries in five years.
Gautam Gambhir hits back at Ponting; stands in support of Kohli and Rohit calling them “tough men”
Replying to a query during the press conference on Monday, November 11, Gambhir firmly 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," Gambhir added.
Watch Gautam Gambhir hit out at Ricky Ponting:
With India eyeing a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final for the third straight time, the form of skipper Rohit Sharma as well as Virat Kohli is of crucial importance with the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy being the last Test series for the two-time runners-up. Speaking of the numbers, Rohit Sharma has amassed 588 runs in 11 matches this year, averaging 29.40 with two centuries and two fifty-plus scores. On the other hand, Virat Kohli has just managed just 250 runs from six matches, with an average of 22.27 with just one half-century.
India’s squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed
