Ricky Ponting, much like his captaincy stint, has had a fruitful beginning to his career as a coach. The former Australian skipper successfully coached the Mumbai Indians in the 2015 edition of the IPL, as the Mumbai outfit went on to win the tournament under his coaching. Ponting was admired greatly by the Mumbai Indians players for his ability to understand the players and coach them efficiently.
In a recent interaction, Ponting was quick to admit that he would be very much interested in coaching Australia, and would love to work with young individuals such as David Warner, Usman Khawaja and the Australian captain, Steve Smith. Currently, Darren Lehmann is coaching Australia, and his contract will expire after the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. Ponting also said that along with commentating, he would definitely enjoy coaching Australia.
“I would love to be working with David Warner and Steve Smith along with some of the young guns like Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns – that will be a lot of fun,” Ponting said. “I know I will thoroughly enjoy it, but right now I have the Big Bash commentary and two months with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. “The rest of the time I like to spend time with my family.”
Ponting though, hinted that he would take up the full time job only after the ICC World Cup 2019. “To be honest, I have not thought that far ahead to 2019, but thinking about it now, my family will be a lot older, the girls will be nearly teenagers then so maybe I’ll want to be getting out of the house,” he said. “I love everything about being involved with a team. That is what my life has been about – it is about being in cricket changing rooms and trying to figure out ways to be a better player, or as a coach now I’m always trying to find ways of improving others. “If I can improve as a coach this year and I can improve the players, that is a step in the right direction.”