Gambhir is prickly character, never took dig at Kohli: Ponting
Melbourne, Nov 13: Responding to Gautam Gambhir's jibe at him, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting on Wednesday said the India head coach was a "prickly character" and insisted that his comments on Virat Kohli should not be construed as a dig on the star batter, who himself would be worried about his prolonged lean patch.
Ponting, in an interview to ICC, had said that Kohli's poor form would be a concern and any other international player would have struggle to keep his spot in the Test side with just two hundreds in five years.
He though had also spoken highly of Kohli's ability to bounce back.
Gambhir, when asked about Ponting's comments, said the Australian legend needn't be concerned about Indian cricket.
"I was surprised to read the reaction but knowing the coach, Gautam Gambhir ... he's quite a prickly character, so I’m not surprised it was him who said something back," Ponting told 7News when asked about Gambhir's comments.
"If he comes my way, yeah. I don't expect him to. We have got quite a bit of history, against each other. I have actually coached him at Delhi Capitals and he is quite a prickly character," Ponting said in jest when the anchor asked if he would shake hands with Gambhir if they cross path.
One of the greatest batters of his time, Ponting then explained what he meant and felt that things were taken out of context.
"In no way was it a dig at him (Kohli). I actually followed it up by saying he's played well in Australia and he'll be keen to bounce back over here...If you ask Virat, I'm sure he would be a little bit concerned that he hasn't been able to make the same amount of hundreds as he has in previous years," he said.
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Gujarat man held for impersonating govt official, duping people with forged letters
Ahmedabad (PTI): The Ahmedabad police have arrested a 29-year-old man who allegedly posed as a senior revenue official and used fake letters claiming to be from various government departments to cheat people, an official said on Sunday.
Mehul Shah, an engineer who manages two schools at Vankaner in Gujarat’s Morbi district, is accused of making lakhs of rupees with bogus documents and false claims, said inspector (crime branch) JK Makwana.
Shah had forged an appointment letter from the Ahmedabad district education officer (DEO) to offer a computer operator’s job in a government office to a complainant’s son. He also introduced himself as a trustee of a school and did not pay a man Rs 7 lakh due to him over the painting of a school building, the official said.
“Despite holding no official position in the state or central government, he used fake work permits and NOCs to cheat people of lakhs of rupees,” the police official said.
One complainant alleged that Shah identified himself as a top revenue department official and produced a fake letter from the chairman of the “department of science and research development” to make him install a siren and curtain in a hired vehicle but did not pay for the job, he said.
Bogus letters claiming to be from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ahmedabad DEO were used by the accused to cheat the complainants, the police official said.
Police have recovered from his possession fake identity cards and letters with headings like “bharat gaurav ratna shri samman council”, “chairman of department of science and research development”, “health and family welfare department”, and “road and building department”.
“The FIR is based on complaints by three victims. We appeal to the people to come forward and submit their complaints if they have been cheated by Shah in any way,” Makwana said.
