Ponting tells ‘struggling’ Smith, Labuschagne to take cue from Kohli
Virat went back to trusting his game and he looked like a different player in the second innings than he did in the first innings, says the former Australian Captain
Adelaide: Following defeat against Indian in the first Test, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting advised struggling batters Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to trust their game akin to star India batter Virat Kohli to turn their fortunes around in the remaining four Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Labuschagne was all at sea against Jasprit Bumrah-led Indian pacers in the opening Test at Perth, which the Aussies lost by a whopping 295-run margin, making a 52-ball 2 and 3. Smith looked equally out of sorts while making a first-ball duck and 60-ball 17 before succumbing to Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj in the first and second innings respectively.
“Marnus looked the most tentative out of all the batters in Perth. Yes, it was high quality bowling on a difficult wicket, but he needs to find a way to turn it around,” Ponting told ICC Review. Ponting cited how Kohli broke the shackles at Perth.
“Virat went back to trusting his game and he looked like a different player in the second innings than he did in the first innings,” Ponting said. Kohli fell to Josh Hazlewood for five in the first innings but made an unbeaten 100, his 30th Test hundred, in the second innings that helped India set a massive 534-run target.
“He (Kohli) got away from trying to combat the opposition and focused on his strengths. That’s what Marnus and (Steve) Smith need to do – find their own way and show great intent,” said Ponting.
Ponting, who has 13,378 runs from 168 Tests with 41 hundreds, asked the Australian batters to take more risk and apply pressure on the Indian bowlers. “You have to find a way to take risks and put it back on those guys because you know the Bumrahs of the world… they’re not going to give you too many easy scoring opportunities.