Former wicketkeeper Brad Haddin probably has a clue about what led to the recent war of words between Gautam Gambhir and Ricky Ponting. After Ponting questioned Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's forms in the build-up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Gambhir fired back with 'What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket? retort during Team India's pre-departure press conference on Monday. Two days later, Ponting reacted to Gambhir's outburst, calling him 'prickly' and then saying that the India head coach is 'already frightened'. Ponting also hinted at there being a bit of 'history' between him and Gambhir, which was further teased by Haddin during an episode of the LiSTNR podcast.

Gambhir and Ponting shared the Delhi Capitals dressing room during the 2018 season of the IPL. It was the year that Gambhir made a comeback to his home franchise and also marked Ponting's first year with the Capitals. In what turned out to be his last player as a professional cricketer, Gambhir ended up playing just half the games despite being one of the big star players in the team. Gambhir also stepped down as captain, handing over the baton to Shreyas Iyer, and while he decided out of his own volition, there might be something more to it. Haddin, however, lifted the lid on his 'backstory' between the two.

"Gambhir is a character that would use this as an us versus them mentality. And you expect your coach to stick up for the players. His reaction was prickly there, and you don't need your coach to get caught up in that sort of scenario unless his tactics is to build an us versus them. I know what the backstory. I'll tell you; just wait till later of the week. There was a little elbow, suspensions and fines," the former Australia wicketkeeper batter said.

Haddin's reference could only mean one thing – the 2008 Test series between India and Australia, where Gambhir ran into Shane Watson, resulting in a controversial elbowing incident. In the third Test, Gambhir scored a career-best 206, but while taking a single, he elbowed Watson on the way. The ICC sanctioned both players and slapped Gambhir with a one-match ban. And since Ponting was Australia's captain in that series, it all makes sense.

Gatuam Gambhir could be trying to emulate Wayne Bennett

Haddin highlighted that Gambhir's tactics could also be a ploy to take the attention away from the Indian team. With plenty of talks surrounding Kohli and Rohit's lean patch and India feeling the pressure with a place in the final of the World Test Championship on the line, Haddin reckons Gambhir's intention, if true, is understandable.

"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," he pointed out.

"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."

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