Speaking on the podcast show ‘The Run Home with Joel & Fletch,’ hours after clarifying his remark on Kohli’s form, Ponting said that he wasn’t sure if he talked about other Indian batters as he felt targetted, adding that if one of them do have a good series in Australia, India could get the chance to criticise him.

“I’m not sure if I mentioned a couple of them, but I reckon he’s just throwing me in the deep end, trying to find their two most experienced and make sure when they come out, they put that back on me,” he said.

‘The hair on the back of his neck is already standing up’

Ponting once again clarified that while he was concerned bout Kohli managing just three centuries in the last five years, where his home average dropped to almost 30, he felt that the Australia tour could just set up the perfect platform for him to prove his critics wrong, given his impressive record in the country.

He pointed out that the reporter, in the press conference ahead of India’s departure for Perth on Monday, never mentioned the second part of his comment and a “frightened” Gambhir took a shot at him.

“I was asked the other night if I was concerned about Virat Kohli’s form. A day before, I had read his stats from the last five years, so it was clear in my mind. I think he made only two (three) centuries in the last five years. His average in India is now down to 30 from 90, during this period. So yes, I would be concerned. And I said if you ask him about his form, he would be concerned because it is nowhere near what it used to be. But then I said since he loves playing in Australia and has a great record here, so if there ever was a tour where he could turn things around, it would be this. But they never talked about the second part. Then Gambhir went and faced the press having just lost against New Zealand. The hair on the back of his neck is already standing up. We got a bit of history as well, but he took a chance to fire back at me,” he said.

Ponting was then played an audio tape of Gambhir’s statement at the media conference, and he reiterated his remark saying: “As I said, he is a prickly character.”