Ex-Australia captain and batting great said he really can’t commit to a 300-day stint with a side as he has a young family back home and also his other commitments, including an IPL coaching stint with Delhi Capitals and commentary assignments, broadcasting work with Channel 7.
“Time is the only thing that’s stopping me [from taking the job], to be honest. I’d love to coach the Australian team, but what I have done with my playing career was being away from family as much.”
“I have a young family now, a seven-year-old boy, and to give up 300 days a year is not what I would do. That’s where the IPL works so well for me,”
he told The Grade Cricketer podcast.
Ponting said he has found the right balance in terms of his work and family life where he is able to stay engaged with the game and is able to give his wife and kids their due.
For that reason only, the 46-year-old reckons full-time coaching gigs are “almost an older man’s job” and not someone with a very young family.
This is why it “surprised” Ponting a lot when his former India counterpart Rahul Dravid came on board to be India’s head coach for the next two years. Dravid, like Ponting, has a young family and was himself hesitant to take up the role.
But Dravid seemingly changed his mind following extensive discussions with the BCCI regime, including his former India skipper and current board president Sourav Ganguly.
Ponting said he was also involved in discussions with top Indian authorities around the India head coach’s job during the IPL this year but had to do what is right for his wife and kids.
Taking the India job would’ve required Ponting to give up his IPL stint, and that was also something he did not want.
