Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and West Indies pacer Kemar Roach were involved in a brilliant banter during the ongoing second Test between Australia and the West Indies at the Gabba, Brisbane.
They both decided to have fun at the end of the second day of play. While Kemar Roach leads the attack on the West Indies, Ricky Ponting plies his trade as commentator. Shortly after finishing the day on Saturday (January 27), Ricky Ponting jokingly claimed that the pacemaker owes him $1.5 million.
Ricky Ponting was referring to the incident that took place back in 2009 when Ricky Ponting was still active as a player and clashed with Kemar Roach. The West Indies pacer had given the legendary batsman a hard time by attacking him with a barrage of bouncers.
The brilliant spell against the tough opponent helped Kemar Roach garner a lot of attention and earned a lucrative IPL contract. Chennai Super Kings and the now defunct Deccan Chargers did everything they could for him before the latter managed to sign him for over Rs 3 crore. Kemar Roach was the second most expensive buy in the IPL 2010 auction.
“In fact, I’ve said it forever, Kemar, he still owes me around $1.5 million because after that (spell), he was picked up in the IPL auction immediately afterwards,” Ricky Ponting said.
Kemar Roach responds to Ricky Ponting:
After Ricky Ponting reminded Kemar Roach of his famous spell in 2009, the West Indies star hilariously told the former Australia captain that he could have handled it better, saying: “You could have handled it better.”
In response, Ponting said: “I remember telling the boys that he (Roach) actually bowled a faster spell in Adelaide (during that tour) than he did in Perth.”
We chatted to Kemar Roach so naturally we had to ask him if he and Ricky Ponting still get along 😂 #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/sNQ9E0IQeM
– 7Cricket (@7Cricket) January 27, 2024
Ponting had to retire injured in Perth after being hit by one of Roach’s goalkeepers. Talking about the ongoing game, West Indies were 193 for 9 on Day 3. They currently lead Australia by 215 runs. Early in the game, West Indies were bowled out for 311 runs before Australia declared their innings at 289 for 9. The hosts have already taken an unassailable lead in the two-match series by winning the series opener by 10 wickets.