Gautam Gambhir's future could be in jeopardy if...: Ricky Ponting's 'frosty' remark in firing fresh salvo at India head coach

During a recent interview on The ICC Review, Ponting raised some doubts about Kohli's performance over the last four years, pointing out that the 36-year-old had only scored two centuries in 60 Test innings during that period. When Gambhir was informed of Ponting's comments at India's pre-departure press conference in Mumbai, he didn't hold back in his response. Gambhir told Ponting to steer clear of Indian cricket and focus on his own Australian team instead.

Ponting did clarify his remark later as he called Gambhir a "prickly character." However, on Thursday, speaking to Channel 7 Cricket, the Australia legend warned Gambhir that he might get to hear worse statements on the Indian team or the players, if the side performs poorly in the five-Test series against Australia.

"Yeah, yeah, I do. Yeah, I don't hold a grudge or anything like that. It'll be up to him. If he holds a grudge from what I had to say there, then I'm sure he's probably heard worse things in the past. He'll probably hear some worse things as the summer goes on, especially if his team doesn't win. So look, I've got no issue with him. And well, I think we're probably guaranteed to bump into each other Friday morning, and we'll see how frosty or not it might be. Yeah, well, I look forward to that as well," Ponting said.

Kohli came under fire following a forgettable series against New Zealand at home, where India had incurred an unprecedented whitewash. He scored just 93 runs in three matches, at 15.50, his worst average in a home series in the last seven years.

However, Ponting backed Kohli to bounce back in the series against Australia and said that he is rather looking forward to watching former India captain bat.

I think the reaction from Gambhir was what probably surprised everybody, surprised a lot of people in India as well, to the point where they were questioning if he should be sitting in press conferences, answering some of the questions. So look, I'm looking forward to seeing Virat again. He's a star. He's one of the all-time greats. And who knows, it might be his series again," the former Australia captain added.