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'I am surprised Rahul Dravid took it up': Ricky Ponting reveals 'some people' were 'hell bent' on making him India coach
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has revealed that he had reached out to certain people during the IPL to know what it was to be India coach and that he was surprised to see Rahul Dravid take up the gig.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has revealed that he had reached out to certain people during the IPL to know what it was to be India coach. Ponting, head coach of IPL franchise Delhi Capitals, further stated that the people he was in talks with were pretty adamant on having him as the next India coach, but after giving it some thought, the two-time World Cup winning captain realised the demanding nature of the job and withdrew whatever little interest he had.
"I had a couple of conversations with some people during the IPL about it (the head coach gig). The people I spoke to were pretty hell bent to find a way to make it work. The first thing I said was that I can't give that much time, that means I can't coach in the IPL," Ponting said on The Grade Cricketer podcast on being asked if coaching India was an idea that appealed to him.
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"I would have to give up the 7 stuff (Channel 7) in summer. It just can't work. But it’s nice to have people think that you can do these big jobs. But there's a lot more than comes with it other than just yes or no."
Ponting added that he was surprised to see Rahul Dravid take up the role, since like him, the former India captain too has a family to take care of. BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly had on Wednesday said that it did not take much time to convince Dravid about the role, with Ponting weighing in that with him not showing interest, the same people ensured the right man was approached and finalised for the gig.
"Actually, I'm surprised that Dravid has taken it up as well. There was a lot of chat about how happy he was in his Under-19 role he had. I'm not sure about his family life but I'm sure he has got young kids. So I'm surprised that he took it but as I said, the people I spoke to were sure they got the right person so they were probably able to get Dravid to do it," added Ponting.
