Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has revealed that he was approached for the Team India coach’s job but he had to turn it down as he can’t give the job that much time. Ponting said on the Grade Cricketers Podcast that he had a conversation with some people about it during the IPL.
“The People I spoke to were very keen to find a way to make it work, but the first thing I said, ‘I can’t give that much of time’. That means, I can’t coach in the IPL,” said Ponting who is currently the head coach of Delhi Capitals.
Sometimes my passion for my team gets the better of me! Always hard to beat MI, tough conditions for batting but Shreyas and Ashwin did exactly what we needed them to do. Great win @delhicapitals https://t.co/d8HrpXQAxi
– Ricky Ponting (@RickyPonting) October 3, 2021
Ponting is surprised that Rahul Dravid took the head coach job of Team India.
“I’m very surprised that Dravid has taken this job. I’m not sure about his family life but I’m sure he has young kids. So I’m surprised that he took it but as I said, the people I spoke to were sure they got the right person so they were probably able to get Dravid to do it,” Ponting said.
The five-wicket win in the first T20I against New Zealand at Jaipur on Wednesday kick-started Dravid’s coaching stint with the Indian senior team.