Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins Will Cause A Few Problems For India Tomorrow: Ricky Ponting

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon will cause plenty of problems for the Indian batsmen on day three of the ongoing third Test between the two teams at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

The Indian batsmen started well with the bat on day two of the Test as openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma shared a fifty-plus stand for the first wicket. Australian then managed to get rid of both the openers, dismissing Rohit for 26 and Gill for 50. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara helped India see off the remaining overs, closing the day on 96 for 2.

For Australia, Pat Cummins looked good and consistently hit the right areas with the ball. He was eventually rewarded with the wicket of Gill. Lyon, however, failed to take any wicket. Ricky Ponting, however, believes Lyon as well as Cummins could cause a lot of problems for the tourists on the crucial third day.

Speaking to cricket.com.au, Ricky Ponting praised Cummins and said: “It’s hard to go past Cummins. His spell today was as good a fast bowling (spell) as you’ll see. He was challenging every ball with just enough sideways movement and enough up and down. He and Nathan Lyon, they’re the two standouts. I reckon both those guys will cause a few problems tomorrow.”

Ricky Ponting further said that the pitch at the SCG has already started to play a few tricks. He stated that the bounce will become a bit more up and down in the days to come. The legendary cricketer also said that it would be important for Australia to get rid of India’s batting soon.

“If you look at the wicket, it’s just started to play a few more tricks, a little bit up and down bounce-wise. That’s why I think it’s really important Australia knock them over,” Ricky Ponting said.

Earlier on day two, Australia were all out for 338 after resuming the day on 166 for 2. Steve Smith starred with the bat, scoring 131 while Marnus Labuschagne also played a fine knock of 91. For India, Ravindra Jadeja took four wickets while Navdeep Saini and Jasprit Bumrah picked two wickets apiece.

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