CricDigs Blogs

When the current India Australia series started, per the ICC player rankings, Ponting was the #1 batsman in both forms of Cricket. Now he has slipped down to #4 in Test Rankings

That in itself is a great achievement for the visitors. Ponting has always tormented the Indians and we were expecting he reducing the gap between him and Sachin in the # of centuries scored. India has managed to keep him very quiet in this series and hope that the trend continues. I am sure Ponting is etching to break out and score a big one, but that in itself could be India’s biggest chance to knock him over early.

The big question in team selection is whether Bhajji would come in in-place of a batsman (Jafar) and would the team ask Dravid or Pathan to open. Everyone is talking about Bhajji and Ponting contest etc, but I think India has to surprise Ponting with different things and not just rely on Bhajji getting better of him. It worked superbly for India when Ishant troubled The Punter in Perth and got his wicket in both the innings. That is what you need to keep a great batsman in check.

India has been able to do that so far. Can they pull that off in the remaining 2 innings? That could be the biggest factor in it’s quest for a series equalizing win.