The ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has captured the attention of Indian fans, with the tournament hotting up as the race for the playoffs comes to a tense end. There will be no respite from cricketing action after this season either, as the T20 World Cup starts just five days after the final.
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However, looking beyond the global tournament, the future of the Indian national team is at a crossroads. Current coach Rahul Dravid is set to step down after his tenure ends in June, and the BCCI invited applications for the role from May 13.
Rickey Ponting reveals he was approached by BCCI during IPL 2024
Several big names have been speculated for the role, including the likes of Stephen Fleming, Gautam Gambhir and Mahela Jayawardene. On Thursday, another prominent personality in former Australian captain Ricky Ponting revealed that he had been approached for the role during the ongoing IPL.
Ponting, who is currently in his seventh season in charge of the Delhi Capitals said in an interview with the ICC,
I've seen a lot of reports about it [the India head coach role]. Normally these things pop up on social media before you even know about them, but there were a few little one-on-one conversations during the IPL, just to get a level of interest from me as to whether I would do it.
I'd love to be a senior coach of a national team, but with the other things that I have in my life and wanting to have a bit of time at home…everyone knows if you take a job working with the Indian team you can't be involved in an IPL team, so it would take that out of it as well.
The former World Cup winner further elaborated on his chances of taking up the offer, admitting they were low. He said, "A national head coach is a 10 or 11-month of the year job, 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."
This is not the first time Ponting has been approached for this role, however. In 2021, he revealed that the BCCI had asked him to take over before the job eventually went to Rahul Dravid. He turned them down then for very similar reasons, citing the travel involved and life on the road for 10-11 months a year.
READ MORE: Who will be the next India coach? All the candidates listed
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