Head Coach Offer: Fans Shocked! India and BCCI are currently looking to fill the Head Coach Role for the Senior Men’s Team. The current Head Coach, Rahul Dravid will complete his tenure shortly after the T20 World Cup. In a Surprise move that shocked all cricket fans, former Australian Captain and Cricket great, Ricky Ponting rejected BCCI’s offer to become Head Coach of the Indian Team.

Ricky Ponting Says No to India Head Coach Offer: Fans Shocked!

India and BCCIare currently looking to fill the Head Coach Role for the Senior Men’s Team. The current Head Coach, Rahul Dravid will complete his tenure shortly after the T20 World Cup.

In a Surprise move that shocked all cricket fans, former Australian Captain and Cricket great,Ricky Pontingrejected BCCI’s offer to become Head Coachof the Indian Team.

Introduction

Rahul Dravid took over the role of Head Coach from Ravi Shastri with the expectation of winning ICC Tournaments.

While India managed to maintain their dominance in World Cricket in all 3 formats by being in the Top 3 Ranked teams in all formats, Team India, unfortunately, did not win any ICC tournament under Coach Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid coached a team having stars like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and others. He also had the advantage of having a good nucleus of Young and experienced Cricketers for all 3 formats.

But in the end, the performance of an outgoing coach will be gauged on the number of ICC silverware earned.

Also Read: Rahul Dravid – A great Player but a Lost coach.

BCCI was keen to bring in a young cricket coach who understands the modern requirementsof the game and accordingly shape the future course of Indian Cricket.

Ricky Ponting was BCCI’s choice for the top job.

Ricky Ponting: The Legend

Ricky Ponting is the most decorated Cricketer in the game having all possible ICC Silverware in his cabinet.

He is currently the Head Coach of Delhi Capitals in the IPL.

A known face in the Indian cricketing circuit and having coached an IPL team, Ricky Ponting was almost a perfect fit for the role of Indian Coach in all three formats.

But the former Australian Captain, shocked fans by saying no to be the lead coach of India’s cricket team.

This decision surprised people all over, and questions arose about the reason behind Ponting’s unexpected choice.

Why BCCI was keen on Ricky Ponting?

Ricky Ponting brings in the much-needed aggressive intent needed in the current style of play.

Having won multiple ICC Trophies in his career, he would have been the best man for the job to guide the team in major ICC events.

Unlike Ravi Shastri or Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting was an aggressive and dominant player in all three formatswhich made him an ideal candidate for the coaching job.

BCCI prefers to have a single coach for all three formats.

With all the requirements met, BCCI was keen to have Ricky in their side. However, to everyone’s surprise, Ponting refused the bid, settingthe cat amongst pigeons in the cricketing group.

Why did Ricky Ponting Refuse the BCCI Offer?

Being Delhi Capital Coach:

Being with the Delhi Capital, his dedication to the franchise and the connections he made with the players greatly affected his choice to not further take up an additional coaching assignment for the National side.

A coaching stint with Team India would mean he would have to relinquish his current role as Delhi Capital Coach.

Time for Family

Already with the 3-month window of the IPL, Ricky Ponting a family person, is away from his home during the IPL season. A national coach role wouldexpect him to be with the Indian team for almost 10 months in a year which would be a difficult change in his personal life. His extensive travel schedule will keep him away from home which he is unwilling to do for the moment.

Alternate to Coaching

An astute student of the game, Ponting is known to wear multiple hats in cricket. He may be more interested to pick up assignments which are short term in nature (like coaching a Franchise team)

Pressure Cooker Job

Coaching an Indian Team though has its perks, it also carries more than a billion people’s expectation. The fans can lift you as a hero or can be ruthless when it comes to criticism on the team. The pressure is unimaginable and cannot be fathomed. Though Ricky can take it up as a challenge but feels it may not be the right time to jump into the national coaching role.

Ponting’s Upcoming Plans

Apart from being a well-respected coach in India and Australia, Ricky is also often called upon to give expert opinion on the game and is a broadcaster’s delight when he takes on the mike to do commentary during a tournament. He will want to continue to contribute to the sport and wouldnot want to change anything in the near future.

The BCCI offer would trigger a series of offers from other boards but Ricky is most likely to reject those offers

If not Ricky Ponting then Who?

With Ricky Ponting’s surprise decision, the front-runner for the role would be Gautam Gambir, but no official confirmation has come from the Board.

Conclusion 

With Cricket evolving, the T20 style of play has crept into the other two format of the game. This has made Test and the 50-over format also become ultra-aggressive.

Many International teams have either selected 2 coaches for Test and Limited overs or are in the process of doing the same.

Ricky Ponting’s decision would have come as a shock to many, it also suggests that the game would probably require 2 separate coaching staffs for red-ball and white-ball cricket.

The conventional approach of coaching may be redundant in today’s style of cricket and this would probably be a reason for the lack of ICC wins for Team India for such a long time.

FAQs

Why did Ricky Ponting decline the offer to coach Team India?

Ricky Ponting understands the demand the role brings and hence has opted out to give time for his family and other personal commitments.

What are the potential future opportunities for Ponting in the cricketing world?

Commentary, Franchise Coaching, Cricket Shows etc.