The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Ponting pleased with overall show

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Ponting pleased with overall show

Principal Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Australian captain Ricky Ponting backed his off-spinner Jason Krejza despite the latter’s dismal performance in the match against the Board President’s XI.

“He is essentially a rhythm bowler, who started off well in the first innings before feeling the pressure. Today, the Indians were after him, especially Yuvraj, who is one of the best stroke-makers in the world of cricket. But, I do believe that Jason has got the skills and the talent. He has to work hard now in the very short time ahead of the Test series.”

Ponting was confident of his pace attack and expected them to take the pressure off the spinners in the Test series.

“It is important for the batters to put on big scores to back their bowlers,” he stressed. “We are aware of the challenges of facing the formidable Indian bowling side and we are ready for that,” he reiterated.

The Aussie skipper said that he was pleased with the overall performance of the team here. He said that the failure of openers Matthew Hayden and Simon Katich was not a concern as they were good players.

Gearing up

“We do expect the Indian spinners to dominate naturally in the Test series. We are gearing up for the challenge,” he said on the Aussie batting preparedness to take on the Indian spinners.

“I am pleased with my batting, having spent some time out there in the middle and feel confident,” Ponting said.

“I owe a lot of runs to my team in India. It’s good to get the feel of the conditions in this match ahead of the series. Yes, I know what to do here,” he said.

“The injury to leg-spinner Bryce McGain is a major setback to us. But Cameron White is a wonderful all-rounder who can win a game on his batting alone. We know he is mastering the craft pretty quickly and should be a very handy customer with his experience of the Indian conditions (having played for Royal Challengers in the IPL),” Ponting explained.

Getting confidence back

Yuvraj Singh, the Board President’s XI captain, said that it was a question of getting back his confidence which he felt he lost recently.

“It was more of eliminating the mental block of being dismissed cheaply of late. It was a personal challenge. When I reached 30 today, then everything started working well. Somehow, I feel confident every time I walk out to the middle. I love this place,” he said.

“I just wanted to prove myself. Whether I should be picked for the last two Tests or not is for the selectors to decide,” Yuvraj said.

Yuvraj said that the Australians had won a Test series in India when the host had the same spinners — Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

“They are very competitive. Never underestimate them, for they always have a game-plan for any situation,” he said.

“No doubt, this Australian team doesn’t have a quality spinner like Shane Warne. And if the fast bowlers fail, then they can be in trouble against the Indians in the Test series,” he said.

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