JOIN USWant to finish off on a high: Ponting
“We want to finish the tour on a very positive note. We've played some excellent cricket over the past few weeks and, while the series has been decided, it's certainly not over as far as we're concerned. To me, 5-2 sounds a lot better than 4-3, so we're going to go ahead full steam,” Ponting told reporters at the end of the Aussies’ training session.
Ponting was pleased with the way all his team members contributed in the series. “I said to the players before this series that I didn't care who it was -- even if we had 11 players -- but if we all contributed in each game, we would be very hard to beat. If you look back at our performances, we've had a few guys who have contributed more than the Indians have. That's been a big reason for our success,” he said.
The Tasmanian could not stop speaking about how his injury-hit squad pulled off a remarkable series win. “There are a lot of other teams at full strength who come to India and struggle to win, but we've come here with nine guys out of the team injured and still managed to win. It is a great achievement and everyone in the team and support staff should be very proud,” he said.
Ponting detailed how the youngsters have stepped into the void created by injuries.
“Every injury creates another positive in that you get a young guy out there exposed to the international level. We've had a lot of guys who have that experience now. Cameron White's got a lot of experience under his belt,
“Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger have got a few games, Clint McKay got couple of games, Nathan Hauritz is really coming of age as a spinner, Shaun Marsh is back at the top, Shane Watson's got a lot of cricket under his belt,” the skipper added.
Ponting said the victory will go a long way in helping the Australians in finding a core team for the World Cup 2011 to be played in India.
“All of a sudden, we had a side that looked very inexperienced but now we're starting to take shape like an Australian side that's been looking as recognised over the past few years.
“There's a World Cup some 18 months away that we're starting to build towards and this squad we've used over the recent past should keep us in really good shape,” he added.