‘India played better cricket on this wicket’
Aussie skipper Ponting expresses displeasure over umpire’s decision on ball change
After criticising the curators here for leaving the pitch too wet prior to their practice on Friday, Ricky Ponting expressed his displeasure over umpire’s decision to not to allow change of ball more than mandatory one during the third one-day match on Saturday.
There was a considerable amount of dew on the ground when Australia were bowling under lights and the ball was difficult to grip, but as the rule says the umpires only allowed the change of ball after the 34th over.
“Most of our problems with the umpires were to do with the ball change. Our spinners got negated quite well and because of the wet condition of the ball our spinners couldn’t grip the ball well and bowl at their best. We were granted just one change of ball that was a bit frustrating for us,” said Ponting who was repeatedly seen in an animated discussion with on-field umpires Amish Saheba and Sanjay Hazare.
While terming the Kotla wicket as one of the slowest he has ever played on, Ponting said:
“India played better cricket on this wicket, particularly their batting was good.
“The partnerships are crucial and the most important partnership came while India batted. We would have been happy to put up around 250 on the board, but couldn’t do that. It was a difficult wicket, but it was the same for both the sides.”
Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh, who rightly won the man of the match for his 78, felt his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni deserved the award more. Crediting the victory for his 148-run association with Dhoni, Yuvraj said:
“It was a slow wicket and we decided to settle down before going for our shots. We thought we will have a 50-run partnership to begin with and went about task really well.
“I thought our running between the wicket was really good and overall we played a smart cricket,” the left-handernoted.
Further praising Dhoni, Yuvraj said: “He is a very dynamic player. He’s probably slowed down a bit these days, but he played really well in Nagpur. I think the way he bats in one-dayers we all need to learn from him.”
Despite establishing a 2-1 lead in the series, Yuvraj felt they were not dominating the Australians.
“They are a quality side and you can’t be complacent against them. They can bounce back any time and crush you down if you relax,” he remarked.
