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Gilchrist backs Ponting

Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting must be under severe stress after comprehensively losing a Test series to India.

For a change Ponting clicked as a batsman in India but questions were immediately raised about his captaincy with former team-mate Shane Warne, who was baffled by the captain’s tactics on the final day of the last Test, choosing to express his anguish through a Twitter outburst. However, all is not lost for Ponting though. The captain got a timely backing from another legendary figure in Australian cricket and the former can heave a big sigh of relief.

Adam Gilchrist, the dashing wicketkeeper-batsman, said Ponting is doing a fine job considering his role during the tough transitional period in Australian cricket but rated England as favourties to win the Ashes. “Despite the Test defeat, the Australian cricket team is still one of the best in the world. I don’t see there is any undue pressure on him as a result of whatever happens today,” Gilchrist said while talking to reporters at the University of Wollongong campus in Dubai even as India were on the verge of victory in the second Test in Bangalore on Wednesday.

Gilchrist felt Ricky deserves more credit for his role in Australian cricket. “I think Ricky should be credited with having had the courage to stick around and take these challenges around. The challenge of the transitional period. The reality is that there are some challenges ahead. If you take out eight or nine core players like we had in the previous years, the challenges are more wider and difficult. Ponting deserves a lot of credit for staying there and trying to take the Australian cricket team into the future in this new period of time,’’ he said.

There are a few positive developments in the new team, according to Gilchrist. “They got a very good successful opening partnership in the form of (Shane) Watson and (Simon) Katich. Brad Haddin has done a wonderful job. Paine is doing a good job. Obviously, it is difficult to replace bowlers of the calibre of (Shane) Warne and (Glenn) McGrath. They are once in a lifetime bowlers. We had two of them in the same lifetime. That is (finding suitable replacements) probably the biggest challenge for the team. The challenges are there but Australia are heading in the right direction,’’ he explained.

Gilchrist said there is enough time for the Aussies to recover from the Test defeat and refocus on Ashes. “There is still lot of cricket to be played. After the ODI series, the Aussie players will get two more domestic matches before the Ashes. But England will start as favourites. If you look at the buildup – the last 12 months – they were bit more stable. It’s a five-Test series. It’s a long summer,” he pointed out.

He also complimented India and England for seizing the opportunity. “The credit goes to other nations too. They seized the opportunity. India have worked very, very hard. They have got a group of 6-7 core players, who have been there for a long time. England have also seized the opportunity to bridge the gap,” he said.

The Australian star is shocked with Indian Premier League’s decision to drop two teams from the Twenty20 league. “I was shocked. I was a bit stunned like everyone. I hope there would be some sort of a compromise. It is a shame to see two of the inaugural teams just taken out of the competition. It will have a ripple effect throughout the whole tournament and on every stakeholder in the game. Hopefully, they would sit and work out the differences,” he said.

The decision would adversely hit the new IPL season, stated Gilchrist. “It will have a major effect on the new season. There is a lot of uncertainty. IPL brought lot of positive things to cricket and will continue to. Obviously, there are areas that needed better governance and more control. Hopefully, after all this, the product, as in general, could move forward because I think there is a lot everyone could benefit. The investors, players, consumers, the crowd… there is plenty of positive stuff. So hopefully we could keep it on track and get started with IPL-4,” he added.

pradeep@khaleejtimes.com