Ricky Ponting confirmed he was offered the India men’s cricket team head coach role but said the “timing was not yet right.”
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PONTING OFFERED INDIA COACH BUT ROLE ‘DOESN’T FIT INTO MY LIFESTYLE’
Ponting acknowledged getting an offer to become the India men’s cricket coach.
However, the former Australia captain “doesn’t fit into my lifestyle right now” due to his family and other commitments on his plate.
Ponting is currently the head coach of the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and does television work in his native Australia.
“I’d love to be a senior coach of a national team,” Ponting said.
However, he admitted that coaching the India men’s team would make it impossible to handle an IPL team like Delhi simultaneously.
“Also a national head coach is a 10 or 11-month-of-the-year job,” the Australian said.
“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,” he added.
GAMBHIR, FLEMING, LANGER ALSO EYED FOR INDIA COACH ROLE
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will ask for the next men’s national cricket team coach to commit for three-and-a-half years.
Other names considered for the coaching role aside from Ponting are Gautam Gambhir, Stephen Fleming. and Justin Langer.
ESPNcricinfo earlier reported that current coach Rahul Dravid will not seek another stint for the position.
Dravid took on the role after the 2021 T20 World Cup until the 2023 ODI World Cup in November last year.
But Dravid agreed to extend his two-year contract until the end of the upcoming T20 World Cup, prompting the BCCI to search for his replacement.
PONTING KEEPS INDIA HEAD COACH ROLE OPTIONS OPEN IN FUTURE
Ponting, meanwhile, kept open his options for the India coach role in the future.
He shared that his son Fletcher was positive when told about the prospect of him taking the job.
“He said ‘Just take it, dad, we would love to move over there for the next couple of years,” Ricky Ponting said.
“That’s how much they love being over there and the culture of cricket in India, but right now it probably doesn’t exactly fit into my lifestyle,” he added.
Ponting said his family and kid have spent the last five weeks with him at the IPL in India.
“They come over every year and I had a whisper to my son about it (about India head coaching role),” he added.
