Ricky Ponting reveals why he turned down BCCI's offer to be India head coach

Rahul Dravid's tenure as the head coach of the India Men's cricket team for all three formats is scheduled to conclude after the 2024 T20 World Cup, which is slated to take place in June in North America. In order to identify Dravid's successor, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issued a call for applications last week.

During this transitional phase, various reports and rumors have emerged regarding potential candidates who have been approached. Notable names include Gautam Gambhir, Ricky Ponting, Stephen Fleming, and Justin Langer.

In an interview with ICC Review, Ponting confirmed that the BCCI had extended an offer to him. However, he expressed his inability to accept it at this time.

“I’ve seen a lot of reports about it [him being approached by the BCCI]. Normally these things pop up on social media before you even know about them, but look, there was a few little one-on-one conversations during the IPL, just to get a level of interest for me as to do it.

“I’d love to be a national 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, even with my Channel 7 [where he is a commentator] work in the summer,” said Ponting.

Ponting, who currently serves as the head coach of the Delhi Capitals, may face a potential conflict of interest issue.

“Everyone knows if you take a job working with the Indian team, you can’t be involved with an IPL team so it takes that out of it as well. A national head coach is a sort of 10- or 11-month-of-the-year job, and as much as I’d love to do it, it just doesn’t fit into my lifestyle right now and the things that I really enjoy doing. I think it’ll be unlikely for me just for the reasons that I’ve given you there,” he added.

Ponting promptly identified Justin Langer and Stephen Fleming as potential candidates, along with Gautam Gambhir.

“I’ve seen a few other names thrown about as well. Justin Langer’s name got thrown in yesterday, Stephen Fleming’s name has been thrown about a little bit,” stated the former Tasmania cricketer. “Gautam Gambhir’s name has been thrown around a little bit the last couple of days as well. But I think it’d be unlikely for me just on the reasons that I’ve given there," he added.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has set a deadline of May 27th for the submission of applications for the position of Head Coach for the Indian national cricket team.

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