'Indian spinners are handful...'

Mumbai: Ricky Ponting probably has the fast-twitch muscle of a speedster. He knows only one pace — fast, be it batting or answering the queries from scribes. While taking on the questions from the media during his first press conference of the 2009 India tour on Wednesday, he plonked his front foot forward and offered a straight bat. He middled most of them.

It is a challenge to play Indian spinners, but we have few players who play spinners well, said Ponting in a press meet on Wednesday. © AFP

Talking about the rivalry with India, which has only grown and acquired cult status in international cricket, Ponting said, “We enjoy being here. The rivalry has only grown in the past few years and it’s good for international cricket. We are the world no. 1 and 2 teams and this series promises to be another good contest.”

Will Indian spinners bother Australian batsmen? Ponting again put his front foot forward and played aggressively. “It is a challenge playing Indian spinners. Gilchrist (Adam) and Hayden (Matthew) may not be there in the team anymore but some of the other players like Michael Hussey and Shane Watson can play spinners well. We are looking forward to bat well against them.”

The Aussie captain reiterated the need of introducing point system to make ODI more competitive. “In a low scoring match, there should be some incentive in terms of points for the winning team. If the team batting second chase down a total within 30 to 35 overs, it should be given additional points, which should be added to the ranking points of the team. This will encourage the teams to try and finish the match early and make the contest more interesting.

“Moreover, the practice of taking power play in the death overs has made the proceedings dull. In ODIs, the game begins to drift between 20 and 35 overs and that is when power play should be taken to make a match more interesting,” suggested Ponting.

However, he chose to underplay the absence of bowling and fielding coach in the Indian team. “It is part and parcel of the game. If I had been faced with such a situation, I would have expected him to take charge (points towards chief coach Tim Nielsen). A lot of coaching can be done by the senior group of players in the team. Players can learn a lot from each other.”

Whether chasing down Sachin Tendulkar’s batting records play on his mind, Ponting said, “It’ll be nice if Sachin retires soon. On serious note, he is a benchmark in international cricket but I’ll continue to focus on my game and the team’s performance rather than chasing an individual record.

“We have done well in the recent past. We had beaten England comprehensively and went on to win Champions Trophy in South Africa. We would like to carry on the good work and give ourselves the best opportunity to play and win.”