Former Australia Batter Slams Gautam Gambhir For His Criticism To Ricky Ponting; Namedrops Virat Kohli

The former middle-order batter of Australia, Michael Hussey, has reacted to the words of the Indian head coach, Gautam Gambhir, towards the comments Ricky Ponting on the current form of the former Indian captain Virat Kohli as the former opener addressed the Delhi-born as ‘incredibly tough’ along with Rohit Sharma.

During the press conference before their departure for the five-match Test series in Australia for the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Gambhir was informed about the comments of Ponting, who claimed that Kohli had been under a little bit of pressure, having collected only three Test centuries in the last five years.

Virat didn’t also enjoy a great time in the recent series at home against the Kiwis, as the right-handed batter could manage only 93 runs in six innings at an average of 15.50 with the help of one half-century. His struggle against the spinners on the dusty surfaces witnessed the Blue Brigade losing their first home red-ball series since 2012/13.

“I saw a stat the other day about Virat, it said he’s only scored two (three) Test hundreds in the last five years. That didn’t seem right to me, but if that is right, then that is, I mean, that’s a concern.” The former World Cup-winning captain for Australia expressed at the ICC review recently.

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However, Gambhir was stunned by the comments as he felt that both Kohli and Rohit had no concerns about going to the upcoming Test series. The former has smashed 1352 runs in 25 innings at an average of 54.08 and a strike rate of 53.14 with the help of six centuries and four half-centuries.

“What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket? They are incredibly tough men. They’ve achieved a lot for Indian cricket and they will continue to achieve a lot in the future as well.” The left-handed opening batter of India remarked.

Michael Hussey backs India’s senior batters to earn success in Australia

After the comments from the two former batters, another middle-order batter from Australia, Michael Hussey, on his interaction with Fox Cricket, reckoned that both of them would find who is right once the opening red-ball game at the Optus Stadium in Perth begins.

“We will find out in the first Test match where they are at, mentally and from a skill perspective as well. They will be hurt by this, India. They have got a lot of crowd pullers and quality. We just heard from Gambhir talking about Rohit and Kohli not making runs.” The left-handed batter reckoned.

Last time, during the 2020/21 series in Australia, Kohli wasn’t part of the series apart from the first game in Adelaide, which was a day-night fixture. However, he was the leader of the Blue Brigade when they got the better of the Aussies for the very first time in 2018/19. With the blade, he was the third leading run-score of the series with 282 runs in seven innings at an average of 40.28.

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“The silliest thing you can do is to write off champion players. We have seen it so many times in the past – they come under criticism, but they come out and perform well. So, I’m backing them to perform well in Australia. They are proud Indians and proud Test players. But I still feel Australia will start favorites.” Hussey supported the veterans of Indian cricket.

The Rohit Sharma-led side will need to win four of their last five encounters to confirm their qualification for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25.