Brad Haddin believes he might have insight into the recent exchange of heated words between Gautam Gambhir and Ricky Ponting.
The verbal clash began when Ponting openly questioned the form of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
In response, Gambhir shot back, questioning, “What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket?” during Team India’s pre-departure press conference.
Two days later, Ponting responded, calling Gambhir “prickly” and suggested the India head coach might be “already frightened.”
Former Australian wicketkeeper Haddin believes he may understand the root of their tension.
Their history likely traces back to the 2008 Test series between India and Australia, marked by Gambhir’s controversial clash with Shane Watson.
In the third Test, while scoring his career-best 206, Gambhir elbowed Watson during a run, leading to a one-match ban for Gambhir. Since Ponting captained Australia during that series, the tension between him and Gambhir may stem from that incident.
Haddin went on to suggest that Gambhir’s fiery remarks might also be a strategic move to shift focus away from Team India’s performance.
With Kohli and Rohit’s form under scrutiny and India’s World Test Championship chances on the line, Haddin believes Gambhir could be deliberately deflecting attention from the team to himself.
"It's out of the Wayne Bennett style of coaching. So we’re not really talking now about Rohit Sharma or (Virat) Kohli. We're talking about Gambhir and Ricky (Ponting). With Gambhir, he has bitten back, taken the pressure away from his team. It's all about him now; it's about how prickly he is. And now he might be able to go and prepare his team. You’d like to believe that he has a very clear plan on how they want to ready," Haddin told LiSTNR podcast.
"We know he's a prickly character and can wind himself up. Is he doing this now to take it away from his teammates? I don't know. Only time will tell. If it’s an emotional reaction, then there's a problem. But if he's doing it to deflect things away and take it (attention) away from his team, that’s a different thing,” he added.
With Gambhir and Ponting’s rivalry reignited, the focus shifts from individual players to the drama unfolding off the pitch, perhaps as Gambhir intended.
