Former Australia captain Tim Paine has weighed in on the ongoing exchange between India head coach Gautam Gambhir and Ricky Ponting, expressing concern about its impact on India’s preparations for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which starts on November 22 in Perth. The debate intensified after Gambhir took issue with Ponting’s comments on Virat Kohli’s performances over the past five years.
Addressing a press conference before leaving for Australia, Gambhir remarked, "What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket – he should be talking about Australia.”
“I don’t love it,” Paine told SEN Tassie. “It’s not a good sign I think, because all he was asked was a very simple question.
“I think he’s maybe looking at Ricky still as someone he’s playing against, but Ricky is a commentator now - he’s paid to give an opinion, and his opinion was spot on. Virat has been sliding, it is a concern, absolutely. But for me now, the biggest concern for India right now isn’t Rohit Sharma’s batting, isn’t Virat Kohli’s batting, it’s their coach and his ability to stay calm under pressure," he added.
For the unversed, Team India's last two series wins in Australia have come under the direction of Ravi Shastri. “Their last two series wins out here they had Ravi Shastri who was fantastic,” Paine said.
“He created a great environment, the players were energised, they played with passion, he sold them the dream and motivated them in a really light-hearted enjoyable way. They have gone to a new coach now that is really prickly, really competitive - and that not to say that’s not a good thing and a good way to coach - but my concern is that it’s not a great fit for the Indian cricket team," he added.
Speaking further, Paine said, "If your coach is the first one to crack in a press conference after being asked a simple question, it could be a really long summer for Gautam Gambhir if India don’t get off to a good start on Perth.”
The upcoming Test series will be important for India to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final for the third consecutive time, which is set to take place in England later this year. India need to win 4-0 to seal their berth in the WTC final without depending on other teams results.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 schedule
The series opener between Australia and India is set to begin in Perth from November 22 to 26. Next, the teams will head to Adelaide Oval for the second Test, a Day/Night match scheduled for December 6 to 10. The third Test will take place at The Gabba in Brisbane, running from December 14 to 18. The fourth Test is scheduled at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from December 26 to 30, and the series will wrap up with the fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7.
India 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), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Travelling reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.
