India will struggle in Australia if the ball swings and seams, reckons Ricky Ponting

Team India blew away a golden opportunity to win the Test series in England due to their batsmen’s inability to play the swinging ball. They struggled to come to the terms apart from their captain Virat Kohli which was the norm for the whole series and eventually they succumbed to a 4-1 series defeat. But they fought gamely until the end and would be looking to make amends in the upcoming Australia tour. However, Ricky Ponting feels that if the red cherry swings, the visitors will also struggle Down Under.

Against England, whenever the ball moved, the Indian batters looked out of ideas. The Lord’s Test is the prime example as they were skittled out twice in around 80 overs and the game was eventually over inside two days. India batted under overcast conditions when the ball jagged around significantly and hence the result. Opposed to that, at Trent Bridge, they looked at ease with the sun out and posted a daunting total in the first innings and won the match to stage a comeback.

They will always struggle

Team India will be vying for their first-ever series win in Australia this time around as the hosts are weakened significantly in the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner. Even Cameron Bancroft won’t be a part of the team which will hurt their batting department. However, their bowling still remains their strength with the likes of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins capable of running through the best of the line-ups.

Ricky Ponting wanted the pitches to have life in it during the Test series in order to keep intact their proud record at home. “If the ball does swing around a lot or seam around a lot then I think India will find it difficult in Australia. “I think any time we saw India struggle through the England series was when the ball moved. As soon as the ball started to move in the air, or seam, the Indian batsmen will always struggle,” he said while speaking to Cricket Australia’s website.

The former captain also pointed out that the ball spins from the first day when Aussies tour sub-continent and there is nothing wrong in taking the home advantage. “It’s no different to when Australia go to the subcontinent and the ball spins from day one. We always struggle with that as well,” Ponting added.

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