Ricky Ponting confirms he was offered Team India’s head coach role

Former iconic Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting shared that he was recently approached by the BCCI to become India's next head coach as the board looks to find a successor for current coach Rahul Dravid, whose contract ends after the upcoming T20 World Cup in 2024.

Ponting completed his seventh season as Delhi Capitals coach in the Indian Premier League, experiencing both successes and setbacks as his team narrowly missed the playoffs. Ponting has refrained from committing to the demands of a high-profile national team in a permanent role.

Ever since the BCCI announced the opening for the post of head coach on May 13, there have been many reports of numerous foreign players being contacted for the position, including Ponting. In response to the reports, the ex-Australia captain revealed that he had been in discussions with the BCCI officials about the role.

"I've seen a lot of reports about it,” Ponting told the ICC. “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", Ponting was quoted as saying by ICC.

"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 enjoy doing", Ponting added.

Watch: Emotional Dinesh Karthik gets 'guard of honour' as the RCB wicketkeeper hints IPL retirement