Gautam Gambhir has not taken Ricky Ponting's criticism of Virat Kohli lightly, questioning the former Australian captain's credentials to raise fingers at something that isn't his to worry about. Gambhir, the head coach of the Indian team, quashed Ponting's concerns and backed the under-fire duo of Kohli and Rohit Sharma, saying they continue to be hungry as always. Ponting had highlighted how, despite scoring just 2-3 Test centuries in the last five years, Kohli continues to be part of India's Playing XI, and had it been someone else, he would have been long dropped.

Kohli and Rohit had a series to forget against New Zealand, which India lost 0-3, tallying just 93 and 91 runs, respectively, from six innings each. At 36 and 37, Kohli and Rohit clearly have more cricket behind them than in front, but going by Gambhir's confidence, the two still have a lot to achieve and deliver going forward.

Kohli and Rohit's failure was a prime reason behind India getting whitewashed at home by Australia, among other things. Gambhir admitted that his team was outplayed, out-skilled and outperformed, but rather than raking the loss with a pinch of salt, the head coach is wearing it as a badge of honour, mentioning how the defeat is going to spur the star batting duo and have them firing on all cylinders when the Border-Gavaskar Trophy gets underway November 22 in Perth's Optus Stadium.

'Not worried at all': Gautam Gambhir on Kohli, Rohit's form

"Not at all. What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket? He should think about Australian cricket. I don't have any concerns. They are incredibly tough men; they've achieved a lot for Indian cricket and are going to achieve a lot in future as well," Gambhir said during India's pre-departure press-conference in Mumbai on Monday.

"For me the most important thing is that they still work very hard; they are still passionate; want to achieve a lot more. And that is something which is important. The hunger in the dressing room is invariably important for me and the entire group of people as well. There is a lot of hunger, especially after what has happened in the previous series."

Gambhir dismissed theories that the current Indian team is in transition. With Kohli and Rohit entering the other end of the 30s and reports emerging that the two of them, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja could well have played their final Test together at home. With all four of these players entering the final phase of their careers, the management, Gambhir included, is making a conscious effort to ensure the future of Indian cricket is in good hands.

Washington Sundar played the Kanpur and Mumbai Tests and returned impressive figures. Dhruv Jurel continues to rise – such as through his half-century against Australia A. Aakash Deep is believed to have left Mohammed Siraj behind in contention to be Jasprit Bumrah's fast-bowling partner. Still, Gambhir wanted to live in the present, not entertaining the word 'transition' at all.

"Look… to be honest, I am not even thinking that the team is in transition and all that. The thing that is on my mind is that we are going to Australia to play five Test matches. There are some incredibly tough people in that dressing room who have achieved a lot. So you guys can keep talking about transition. For me, they are still pretty hungry and till the time that is the case, they've got a lot of fire. Transition or no transition, those things will keep happening in Indian cricket, but at the moment it's about the five Tests we're about to play in Australia," he added.

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