Ricky Ponting confirms BCCI offered him India head coach job but he said “no”

Ricky Ponting, the current head coach of the Delhi Capitals and a legendary Australian cricketer, has stated that he was approached by the BCCI to take over as Team India’s coach following this year’s T20 World Cup in the Americas, replacing Rahul Dravid. It’s still quite doubtful that he would submit an application.

“It’s been covered in a lot of reports,” Ponting said to the ICC. “Usually, you find out about these things on social media before you even know about them, but during the IPL, there were a few brief one-on-one conversations to gauge my interest in participating.”

Ponting would have to sever his relationship with DC if he were to become the head coach of India, something he is not prepared to do. The former captain of Australia was also uneasy about the Indian coach’s job because it needed him to travel constantly to different parts of the world.

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“Being a senior coach of a national team is something I’d really like to do, but it would also interfere with my other commitments and desire to spend some time at home. As everyone knows, if you take a job with the Indian team, you can’t play for an IPL team.

Furthermore, he stated, “As much as I’d like to, a national head coach position only lasts for 10 or 11 months out of the year, and it just doesn’t fit into my lifestyle right now or the things that I really enjoy doing.”

Competitors Gambhir, Langer, and Fleming for the position as head coach of India

Following Dravid’s announcement that he will not be reapplying when his extended contract finishes with the T20 World Cup, the BCCI began contacting prominent IPL players. The BCCI extended the contracts of the former captain of India and all of his support staff till the T20 World Cup, after their initial agreements ended in November of last year.

Ponting’s extensive background as a player and coach made him one of the well-known names that piqued the BCCI’s interest. The BCCI also made approaches to Gautam Gambhir of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Justin Langer of the Lucknow Super Giants, Stephen Fleming of the Chennai Super Kings, and Mahela Jayawardene of the Mumbai Indians, who is the director of cricket.

“A few more names have also been mentioned. Stephen Fleming’s name has been mentioned a little amount, and Justin Langer’s name was included yesterday, according to Ponting.