Shocked that Australia weren't good enough to beat India's 'A team': Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting is struggling to comprehend how India's 'A Team' - a second-string side - trounced a full-strength Australia at the Gabba. The former captain, however, lauded the resilience shown by the visitors and said India deserved to win the series.

Ricky Ponting had expected India's grit to fizzle out on the final day of the 4th Test. However, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara chased down over 300 runs on a 5th-day pitch to script a famous victory for India on Tuesday.

The victory is sweeter for the Indians because it came in the absence of half-a-dozen first-choice players including Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. In an interview with cricket.com.au, Ricky Ponting talked about the reasons why this series loss was shocking for the hosts.

"I'm quite shocked that Australia weren't quite good enough to win this series. The cold hard facts of it are pretty much that was the India A team that played this Test match and still won. Considering everything the Indian team has been through in the last five or six weeks, with the captain leaving, all the injuries they've had - they've been through 20 players - (Australia) have been at full-strength, bar Davey (Warner) missing early on, so it's really hard to comprehend," said Ricky Ponting.

The 46-year-old further explained:

"It's probably not even (India's) second-picked team because you think of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma and those guys who didn't even make it out here. Rohit Sharma turns up for the last two Test matches only. They've played really good, tough, hard Test match cricket day-in and day-out. India have won all the big moments in every Test match and Australia have fallen short. That's been the difference between the two teams. They have done it really well and they thoroughly deserve to win the series ... because (of) how resilient they've been."

Test cricket at its best.Our camera was there to capture all the emotion as India pulled off a victory for the ages at the Gabba #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/V3QchmOklA

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 19, 2021

Worrying for Australia that India played net bowlers and still won: Ricky Ponting

India, under Virat Kohli, had won the 2018 tour of Australia as well. But the historic achievement was somewhat muted by the fact that the home side was without two of their best players, David Warner and Steve Smith. Ricky Ponting talked about the same and called it a 'worry' for Australia.

"We gave Australia the benefit of doubt the last time India were here because Warner and (Steve) Smith weren't there. But this time, Australia's at full strength and India are on the bones of their squad - they're playing net bowlers in Test matches and they're still winning. That's the worry for Australia," said Ricky Ponting.

"We're probably digging deeper than even an Indian A team and they've still been good enough to win two Test matches here in Australia, and good enough to win one in Brisbane, which just doesn't happen," he added.

Ricky Ponting was among many pundits who predicted that India would suffer a 4-0 whitewash after the humiliating loss at Adelaide. However, youngsters like Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, Rishabh Pant, and others contributed significantly in every game to pull off some sensational wins.

The 2-1 scoreline is a testament to the entire team's character.