Former India opener Gautam Gambhir is widely known for his honest and hard-hitting opinions on various topics. He often speaks with a bold attitude and is a straightforward customer. Even during his playing days the left-handed batsman hardly duck his shoulders from involving in clashes on the field. More often than not, Gambhir used to indulge into verbal exchanges with opposition players whenever they tried to go for a sledging option.
No one can forget Gambhir’s famous verbal altercation with former Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi during an ODI match at Kanpur’s Green Park stadium in 2007. Not only that, during a Test match against Australia in 2008 in Delhi, Gambhir had also allegedly elbowed Aussie cricketer Shane Watson. Even in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the former Delhi opener got neck to neck in a heated exchange with Virat Kohli in 2013.
Speaking about his sledging incidents, recently, in an episode of Star Sports’ chat show ‘Cricket Connected’, Gambhir was asked to talk about the sledging episode he enjoyed the most.
In his response, the former India international went on to talk about his exchange with former Australia captain Ricky Ponting during the inaugural Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2008.
“Ricky Ponting, maybe. That was in 2008 when Anil Kumble was the captain. In the series, when I got my double hundred. In the first Test match, I think which was in Bengaluru, he said something when I was batting,” said Gambhir.
The cricketer-turned-politician stated that Ponting fired some shots while he was fielding near the stumps. Gambhir said that he reminded Ponting of his record in India and termed the Aussie cricketer as a ‘bunny’.
“He was at silly point, and he said ‘you haven’t set the world on fire’. I said ‘Neither have you in India. To be honest, you have been a bunny’. His record says that as well, he’s been a bunny in India,” the 38-year-old added.
Gambhir’s analysis is not wrong at all as Ponting’s Test record shows that he has played 14 Tests in India in which he has scored only 662 runs at a poor average of 26.48 with just one hundred. However, his career in the ODIs is slightly better, but surely not up to the mark. Ponting has featured in 46 ODIs in India. He has scored 1,736 runs at an average of 39.45 with five centuries.
