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Ponting all praise for young players

Principal Correspondent

Mumbai: Australian captain Ricky Ponting said that his team was keen to finish the Indian tour on a positive note. “We want to finish well, we have had some excellent performances in this series but there is still a match to go and a 5-2 verdict sounds better than a 4-3 any day,” Ponting said ahead of Wednesday’s final One Day International of the Hero Honda Cup series.

Ponting praised his teammates for coping with adversity and emerging victorious from a tough tour. “As captain I have done the best I can. The players have responded well. The young players who have come in as replacements have responded well to the challenge.

“I have been part of teams which have won World Cups and Champions Trophy tournaments but this series victory that has been gained through adversity is something as special as the other big ones,” Ponting said.

Tough opponent

Ponting said that he knew it would be tough to beat India. “We knew it won’t be easy. We all know the aggressive brand of cricket India plays at home. They scored a 354 against us at Nagpur so we know what they are capable of but the difference was that a lot more players performed together for us while only a few players performed well for India,” Ponting said.

Ponting said that his team played the key-moments better. “Even in Hyderabad when Sachin Tendulkar put the chase in the bucket seat we knew it was a matter of one breakthrough and it was the same in the other close matches as well,” Ponting said.

ODIs still alive

The Australian captain stressed that the current series proved that ODIs still have a future. Ponting said and added that the series had been a good dress-rehearsal for the World Cup here in 2011.

“A lot of young players have proved that they belong and it is a nice situation to be in,” the Australian captain said.

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