During the Indian Premier League, the legendary Australian player was asked if he would be interested in taking over as India’s coach, a role that would be left unfilled by Rahul Dravid.
Ricky Ponting, an Australian star, has stated that he was recently approached about succeeding Rahul Dravid as India’s next head coach.
Ponting recently completed his sixth season as coach of the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League, and the former Australian captain had mixed results this year, with his team narrowly missing out on the playoffs.
Despite coaching spells in the IPL with Mumbai and Delhi, as well as serving as Australia’s interim T20I coach, Ponting has so far avoided the temptation to take on the rigours of a high-profile national squad full-time.
However, with Dravid’s tenure as India’s head coach presumably coming to an end and last year’s ICC World Test Championship runners-up looking for a new leader, Ponting is one of several former greats who have been approached about the position.
“I’ve seen a lot of reports about it,” Ponting informed the ICC. “Normally, these things spring out on social media before you know about them, but there were a couple one-on-one conversations during the IPL to gauge my interest in doing them.
“It would be great to be a senior coach for a national team, but with everything else going on in my life and my desire to spend some time at home, it would also be difficult. As everyone knows, you can’t be on an IPL club if you take a job with the Indian squad.
“Also, a national head coach is a 10 or 11-month of the year job, and as much as I’d like to do it, it just doesn’t fit into my lifestyle right now and the things that I really enjoy doing.”
Along with Stephen Fleming and Justin Langer, two other IPL coaches, Ponting is one of many former greats who have been connected to the coaching position in India.
“There have also been a few additional names mentioned. Yesterday, Stephen Fleming’s name was mentioned, and Justin Langer’s was mentioned as well, according to Ponting.
“Over the past several days, Gautam Gambhir’s name has also been mentioned a little bit. For the reasons I mentioned above, though, I believe it would be unlikely for me.”
Ponting, who is currently on a tour in Delhi with his family, revealed that he once broached the subject of coaching India to his youngest child, Fletcher, and son.
“My family and my kids have spent the last five weeks over at the IPL with me and they come over every year and I had a whisper to my son about it, and I said, ‘Dad’s been offered the Indian coaching job’ and he said, ‘Just take it dad, we would love to move over there for the next couple of years’” Ponting said.
