Indian batsmen will struggle in Australia too: Ricky Ponting

Following India’s 4-1 drubbing in England, former Australia captain and legendary Ricky Ponting has said that India will have a similar struggle in Australia too when they tour Down Under this summer. India’s inability to tackle moving ball actually cost them the series. Barring captain Virat Kohli, none other Indian batsman could do justice to their billing during the 84-day tour of the United Kingdom.

“If the ball does swing around a lot or seam around a lot then I think India will find it difficult in Australia… I think any time we saw India struggle through the England series was when the ball moved,” Punter was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

Reiterating India’s ineptness to handle moving deliveries, Ponting highlighted majority of Indian batsmen’s struggle outside the sub-continent and also said that similar struggles are seen when Australia tour the sub-continent. “As soon as the ball started to move in the air, or seam, the Indian batsmen will always struggle. It’s no different to when Australia go to the subcontinent and the ball spins from day one. We always struggle with that as well,” Ponting, who has more than 13,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs, further said.

The 43-year-old batting legend also brought the captaincy issue which plays a big role in making an unit perform under hostile conditions. “I’ve never sat back and tried to analyse what playing captains do as I know when I was captain on field is about 30 or 40 percent of what you need to be in control of. The rest of it happens behind closed doors or in the change rooms and quite often back in the hotel when you’ve got time to yourself,” he said.

While talking about the tactical strategy in countering such issues, the former Aussie captain said that those are backroom things and are sorted well ahead of a match. “The tactical stuff is normally worked out a few days before the game and then you go with your gut instinct about the game out on the ground once the game starts,” Ponting felt.

However, India will tour Down Under in November to play three T20 internationals, three one-day internationals and four Test matches till January.

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