Ponting admits interest in India head coach position, yet "unlikely" to accept

Ricky Ponting has revealed that he was approached to be India’s next head coach. Despite significant interest in the job, Ponting indicated that it is an “unlikely” option for him at the moment due to the commitment it would require.

The deadline for applications closes on May 27, the day after the IPL final. Previously reported that Rahul Dravid will not be seeking another stint. Ponting expressed his ambitions to be a national coach but noted that his current roles—head coach at Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024 and television work in Australia—make the timing challenging.

“I’d love to be a senior coach of a national team…”

“I’ve seen a lot of reports about it,” Ponting told. “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.

“Also, 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.”

Gautam Gambhir has also been approached by the BCCI for the job, with other potential candidates including Stephen Fleming and Justin Langer.

Commitment concerns make India coaching unlikely for Ponting

Ponting, however, did leave the door slightly ajar, mentioning that his young son, Fletcher, had a positive response to the prospect of him taking the job. Ponting’s other roles include head of strategy at Hobart Hurricanes and head coach of Washington Freedom in MLC. He has signed a two-year deal for that tournament, which will follow the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies. Ponting has also previously worked with Australia’s T20I and ODI sides.

“My family and my kids have spent the last five weeks over at the IPL with me and they come over every year and I had a whisper to my son about it, and I said, ‘Dad’s been offered the Indian coaching job’ and he said, ‘Just take it dad, we would love to move over there for the next couple of years'” he said. “That’s how much they love being over there and the culture of cricket in India, but right now it probably doesn’t exactly fit into my lifestyle,” he added.

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The BCCI has announced that the head coach role will cover all three formats for three and a half years, starting from July 2024 until December 2027. Rahul Dravid began his two-year term after the 2021 T20 World Cup. His stint was set to end after the 2023 ODI World Cup in November last year, but he agreed to an extension until the end of the upcoming T20 World Cup.