Michael Vaughan joins Gautam Gambhir vs Ricky Ponting fight, warns India coach of tough times in BGT

Former England National Cricket Team skipper Michael Vaughan has stepped into the ongoing verbal clash between India National Cricket Team head coach Gautam Gambhir and Australia National Cricket Team legend Ricky Ponting.

Michael Vaughan has also issued a major warning to India's head coach of tough times ahead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

Also Read: Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami set to fly to Australia to bolster injury-hit India squad for BGT opener

What is going on between Gautam Gambhir and Ricky Ponting?

The matter between Ricky Ponting and Gautam Gambhir started after the former commented on the form of the struggling India batsman Virat Kohli.

Ponting had stated that Kohli's form is a major concern for India as in the last 5 years, he has only scored 2-3 centuries in Test cricket.

When Gautam Gambhir was asked about Ponting's comments and whether Kohli's form was a concern, the India head coach exploded.

He said that Ponting has nothing to do with Indian cricket and he should only comment on Australian cricket. The Aussie legend came up with a sharp response to Gambhir and doubled down on his comments.

Ponting also fired a shot at Gambhir for the embarrassing Test series loss of India against New Zealand at home and said that he has got a bit of a history with the India star.

I am going to like Gautam Gambhir as coach because he is spicy - Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan has now stepped into the fight and shared his opinion on the matter. He said that he likes Gambhir as a coach because he is spicy.

Michael Vaughan further urged the Indian head coach to learn to play games in the media because he is part of a leadership group in Indian cricket.

“I am going to like Gautam Gambhir as a coach because he is spicy. I think he is going to have to learn that sometimes, in the leadership position that he is in, play the game a little bit,” said Vaughan on the Club Prairie Fire podcast in which Australia greats Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist were also present.

So I don't quite agree with Gautam - Michael Vaughan

Michael Vaughan further bashed Gambhir, saying that there is no such rule in punditry, which states that they need to comment only on the teams that they have played for.

He added that he doesn't agree with the comments made by 'prickly' Gautam Gambhir, but likes the spice he brings to the table. Vaughan also opined that India will be having tough times in Australia and said he is curious to see how will Gambhir react to it.

"Don't just buy every comment. Because, by the way, we are all going to be commenting about his team very shortly. And I never thought that the rule of punditry is that you can only have a comment on the team that you played for. If that is the rule of punditry well, Haydos you have spent half your life in India so that's your job. I have got to get on a plane and go back to Manchester tomorrow morning.

"So I don't quite agree with Gautam. But I do like a bit of spice and I like the fact that he is going to be very prickly. Over the course of the next few weeks I don't think it's going to be easy for his team. I don't think they are going to win every game, they are going to lose games and it will be very interesting to see how he deals with that negative side of team performance.”