Australia great reacts after Gautam Gambhir takes a jibe at Ricky Ponting: What will be revealed in the 1st Test?

India head coach Gautam Gambhir received backing from Australian legend Mike Hussey after he made a bold statement against former Australia captain Ricky Ponting. Gambhir expressed his confidence in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, referring to them as "incredibly tough men" who will silence their critics in the upcoming five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

India captain Rohit and his predecessor Kohli came under fire after India suffered an embarrassing whitewash at home against New Zealand. The 37-year-old scored just 91 runs, which was preceded by a series against Bangladesh where he managed only 42 runs in two matches, while the latter amassed 93.

Ponting was among the critics who expressed concerns over their batting, but Gambhir, speaking to the media ahead of India's departure for Australia, said that he had “no concerns" and rather hit out at the Aussie.

“What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket?” Gambhir said. “They are incredibly tough men. They’ve achieved a lot for Indian cricket and they will continue to achieve a lot in the future as well.”

Following the remark, Hussey, speaking to Fox Cricket, reckoned that the while both Ponting and Gambhir would find out who is right when India take on Australia in the first Test in Perth two weeks later, but backed the two senior batters to bounce back strongly in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“We will find out in the first Test match where they are at, mentally and from a skill perspective as well. They will be hurt by this, India. They have got a lot of crowd pullers and quality. We just heard from Gambhir talking about Rohit and Kohli not making runs. The silliest thing you can do is to write off champion players. We have seen it so many times in the past - they come under criticism, but they come out and perform really well. So I'm backing them to perform well in Australia. They are proud Indians and proud Test players. But I still feel Australia will start favourites,” he said.