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Ricky Ponting slammed the Australian batsmen for mediocre staging in the 2nd Test on Monday. The two-time World Cup-winning captain remarked there are no demons in the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) wicket. He said it has just been a dismal show from Tim Paine's team.
The Aussies were bowled out for a below-par 195 in the first innings. Australian bowlers and most pundits had expected an ameliorated show from the batters in the second outing. More so, on a substantially eased up pitch. However, the bubble burst soon as they were bundled out for 200.
Speaking to Channel Seven, Ricky Ponting blasted the performance as "very, very poor."
"You can't blame the pitch. The pitch has been absolutely perfect today. It's a little bit of spin, yes, but you'd expect that. Day three of a Test Match. Very little on offer for the fast bowlers, but it's just been poor batting. Very, very poor batting so far," said Ricky Ponting.
"It's been one of the reasons, I think, that they've eventually got themselves out, playing rash shots. They haven't been able to tick the scoreboard over on a regular enough basis. Pressure builds. When pressure builds, bad shots come," added Ponting.
The Aussies have also created a grim record. This match was the first instance since 1988 when no Australian batter registered a half-century in a home Test match.
Ricky Ponting claims Australian batsmen are "sitting ducks"
Ricky Ponting touched upon playing against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja. He advised the batsman to look to score against these bowlers even if it means taking more risks.
"I talked about it in the first innings as well particularly with the way they played Ravi Ashwin. They weren't proactive against him. Yes, it's been good bowling, but sometimes against the best bowlers, you have to take more risks as a batsman. For the sheer fact, they're not going to bowl bad balls," said Ricky Ponting.
"The lesser skilled bowlers you can sit on all day because you know you're going to one or two scoring opportunities an over, but Bumrah, Ashwin, Jadeja, even Siraj to a certain degree in this game, they don't make many mistakes," explained Ponting.
"They've actually forced the Australian batsman into making mistakes. When you're just sitting there waiting for good bowlers to make mistakes, you're basically a sitting duck," Ricky Ponting concluded.
Barring any disastrous show by the Indians in their 2nd innings, Ajinkya Rahane is set to maintain his unblemished win record as a Test captain.
Sydney will likely host the next Test of the four-match series. It will commence on January 3, 2021.
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