IND vs AUS: Gautam Gambhir has made himself an easy target for Aussie media potshots

Gautam Gambhir address media in Mumbai before leaving for the Australia tour (PTI Photo)

For Gautam Gambhir, the war of words has already begun, and there’s still more than a week to go for on-field hostilities to commence at the Optus Stadium in Perth. At the departure press conference in Mumbai, the India coach’s snappy reaction to a former Australian captain’s observations about Virat Kohli – “What does Ricky Ponting have to do with Indian cricket?” – quickly went viral. Gambhir’s response prompted Sanjay Manjrekar, who toured Australia in 1991-92, to suggest that he could be a liability in front of the microphone.

Now, Ponting has reacted, and it’s safe to say that Gambhir will face more unfriendly fire in the coming days. “I was surprised to read the reaction but knowing the coach, Gautam Gambhir … he’s quite a prickly character, so I’m not surprised it was him who said something back,” remarked Ponting, whose team’s behaviour during the ‘Monkeygate’ series of 2007-08 was compared to a ‘pack of dogs’ by the late Peter Roebuck.

Along with their animated crowds – the late Shane Warne’s beloved Bay 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is especially notorious – Australia’s tabloid media has often acted as a 12th man when the team play against competitive opposition. The Daily Telegraph and Brisbane’s Courier Mail have often led the way in recent decades. The Daily Telegraph even compared Virat Kohli to Donald Trump during the ill-tempered series in India in 2017, while the Courier Mail came up with the memorable ‘Indian Summer Over?’ headline after just one day of the 2003-04 series in Brisbane.

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Prior to that Test match at the Gabba over two decades ago, Sourav Ganguly, then India’s captain, was repeatedly probed about ‘chin music’, and how Australia’s pace pack would expose his alleged frailty against fast bowling. Ganguly responded to each barb and question with grace and equanimity and then went out and smashed 144, possibly the best hundred he ever scored.

Gambhir would have been an easy target anyway. Even as a player, he had a reputation for hot-headedness and was banned for a Test in 2008 after elbowing Shane Watson during a game in New Delhi. There will be a coordinated effort each time he attends a press conference to get under his skin. If Gambhir reacts, the most unflattering headlines will follow.

As captain, Rohit Sharma has been quite masterful at defusing tense situations. But if Rohit misses the Perth Test, as looks likely, it’ll be fascinating to see how India handle the ‘mental disintegration’ efforts from the local media. Gambhir hasn’t quite thrown down the gauntlet, but he’s already made a target for his back with his Ponting remarks.

In exclusive arrangement with RevSportz