He's a prickly character: Ponting responds to Gambhir's outburst

Legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting called Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir a "prickly character" after he delivered a jibe at him for voicing concerns over the form of star batter Virat Kohli.

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As the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) at Perth's Optus Stadium comes close, the war of words between cricketing personalities from both the sides has only got intense.

During a recent episode of the ICC Review, Ponting had raised concerns over Virat's Test form over the last few years, having scored just two Test centuries since 2020. He had said, "I saw a stat the other day about Virat, it said he has only scored two (three) Test hundreds in the last five years. That did not seem right to me, but if that is right, then that is, I mean, that is a concern."

"There would not be anyone else probably even playing international cricket as a top-order batsman that has only scored two Test match hundreds in five years," he added.

In the same episode, he had also backed Virat to deliver, saying that the star has a fine record in Australia and one "should not question the greats of the game".