Bengaluru, Oct 13: Having lost another Test series in India, Australia captain Ricky Ponting on Wednesday said that he was disappointed at not converting his scores in the 60s and 70s into double hundreds like Sachin Tendulkar and admitted that as captain he tried different things but never got the result he wanted in India.
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On the positives after losing the series 2-0
Yes it is a little harsh. We played well in the majority of the first Test match, pretty well for a majority of this Test match. It goes to show that we need to play good Test match cricket on all the five days. Not four or four and a half. The first Test was a great example of that. In this Test match, we needed to break the Vijay-Tendulkar partnership on Day 3 - it proved crucial in the outcome of the game. Probably our inability to bat for three sessions in the second innings is the reason why we have not won here. There have been a few positives. [Mitchell] Johnson and [Ben] Hilfenhaus bowled well. Shane Watson at the top of the order has been very good for us. Tim Paine looked a world class keeper-batsman. We are a little inconsistent. They deserved to win both the games. And if you ask them they themselves will be flattered by the end result.
On Nathan Hauritz’s performance
Nathan has been disappointed with the way he bowled in this game saying that our guys also handled the spinners quite well yesterday. The reverse swing at the end of the day and two late wickets got [India] back into the contest I guess. No doubt we have to do something about the way we bat against reverse swing. And also about how we deliver when we have got the ball in our hand. Zaheer [Khan] and [S] Sreesanth have done a lot better than us in the series. There have been some positives, some negatives. We have to move on pretty quickly now. The next Test match is at the Gabba against England in the Ashes series.
On the difference between the conditions in Brisbane and Bengaluru
Totally different conditions. It is interesting to see how we will bounce back now that we have lost three Tests in a row; we lost the last one against Pakistan. I don’t think it has happened since I have been the captain. There are some issues that we need to deal with and we have to get over them quickly. Our team is generally suited more to the Australian conditions than here. That makes some of our standout personal performances that much better because we have served it up against the No. 1 Test team nine out of the ten days.
On what he could have done differently in the series
The breakthrough on the third day - that partnership. We needed to bat better in the second innings. We needed to set the game up to put India under pressure. We should have batted one hour longer - then it would have been a really good game of cricket.
On MS Dhoni’s strategy of sending Cheteshwar Pujara at No. 3
I was a little bit surprised - not sure what the reason was. I am sure you will hear something from MS later on. It is something to do with him being a little fresh and not getting much opportunity in the first innings. Also, I had a look at a bit of Rahul Dravid’s record at Bangalore, at his home ground - it’s not great. Maybe they are trying to be a little proactive and send someone who can hit at a faster rate than someone who is under a little bit of pressure.
On his personal contributions and frustrations that others didn’t chip in
I did not bat well either. As a No. 3 batsman if you get to 60 or 70 you are supposed to score a big one. Tendulkar made a 200 but if I had made a 200 in the first innings, the result might have been different. Three scores in the 70s are not good enough. I needed to make a couple of big innings. I was a little disappointed last night when I got out late in the game. When the team needed me the most in these Indian conditions, I did well for three quarters of the day but didn’t cross the line. I am disappointed the way I played - like anybody else. When you get those starts, you have to capitalise.
On whether he thinks India can hold on to the No. 1 position like Australia did a while ago
It will be interesting to see. What I know about the Indian team is that all their batters are very experienced, barring [Suresh] Raina. When [VVS] Laxman comes, Pujara or Raina have to go out. It’s all about how they maintain the standards they have kept over the last couple of years. They have to move on, that has been the biggest challenge for Australian cricketers as well. Once those very experienced players move on, you need the young crop to stand up and play the way the guys before them have played. It [will be] interesting to see how India cope with that in the next couple of years.
On whether he thought India would be able to chase 207 easily
I was just hoping they wouldn’t. I was hoping that we would get [Virender] Sehwag early which we did. Sachin was also a big wicket that we wanted. The Pujara-Vijay partnership did us in - they were scoring at a run-a-ball rate and got the momentum their way. That was what I was telling the boys yesterday – about stemming the momentum, try to slow the scoreboard down, put a bit of pressure. We got one wicket but we couldn’t continue the momentum through the day. We knew that the Indians are very good players on the fourth and fifth day wicket and someone needed to bowl better than what we did today to win the game.
On the comparison between the chases at Mohali and the one at Bengaluru
We managed to get four wickets on Day 4 [at Mohali] - it was a little tough for them to bat. Their approach was different today. Even the way Pujara played - he showed great intent, he was willing to take a few risks to get the momentum their way and it paid off well for India today.
On whether he was disappointed with his bowlers
No, we were one ball away from winning the first Test and that was because of our bowlers. I don’t think the bowlers were disappointing at all. We have lost both the Tests because of our second innings batting. If we had batted an hour longer in both the Test matches, we had a great chance of winning the first one and probably [pulling off] a draw in this.
On Shane Warne’s comment about Nathan Hauritz
Every field [placement] Nathan had was according to his request. That’s the field he wants to bowl with. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that Shane would take his time to ask anyone about it - he has his opinion out in the public at the moment. It’s a personal opinion, I guess. The thing about international cricket is that different people say different things at different times. We don’t agree with all of them. There is no doubt that we will face some criticism having lost. It would have been nice if he was more informed before making such comments.
On what he wants Hauritz to do
That’s up to him. As captain I have given them the right advice, we can work on his bowling but as captain I give him advice to make him a better player. That’s what the captain and coaches are in those places for. He has a couple of days before the next one- day game and probably after the one-day series he will have confidence under his belt. He can play some shield games and start working - he knows how the coaches are trying to help him out. We will do everything in our power to help him to improve his game. And the rewards will come.
On changes required within the team
I don’t think there are too many gaping holes in our team. All we can do is to perform well and personally for me to score as many runs as possible. We have to take opportunities that come our way and not let them slip like in Mohali.
We have lost so many series in India and I have got four [losses] in a row. We come here and try different things but don’t get the result we want.
On Michael Clarke
Even I have had a rough time earlier. No need to worry about Clarke, he is a world class player. The fact that he has moved up the order doesn’t have anything to do with the way he has scored or not scored runs. I am sure when the Ashes comes around, you will see him in good touch.
