Shardul Thakur And Washington Sundar Did Exactly What The Team Wanted From Them: Ricky Ponting

Former Australia captain, Ricky Ponting heaps rich praises for the pair of Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar after the duo put on, what probably could be a match-saving partnership of 123 runs for the seventh wicket on Day 3 of the ongoing Brisbane Test.

In reply to Australia’s  369, India was reduced to 186/6. With a long Indian tail, a big trail looked inevitable. However, Thakur and Sundar, the former playing his second Test and the latter his first, defied the Aussie bowlers for 36 overs and notched up their respective maiden Test fifties.

Ricky Ponting applauds the ‘outstanding’ partnership between Thakur and Sundar, both of whom took 3 wickets each in Australia’s first innings. Ricky Ponting says that the duo applied themselves very well on the crease and was focused on bailing out their team from a difficult situation.

“The batsmanship has been a real standout and their application and concentration. They didn’t throw it away. The partnership was outstanding, exactly what India needed at the time which is what they’ve been able to produce in a few Test matches. Shardul at the end went for a shot that probably wasn’t quite on but before that there wasn’t many false shots at all played by either of them,” Ricky Ponting told cricket.com.au.

India have been up for the battle through this series: Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting marvels over the never-say-die attitude in the Indian team. The visitors have been struck with a spate of injuries before and throughout the series, add to it they are missing the services of their charismatic captain and leading batsman, Virat Kohli.

However, they have kept the series alive and level till the last game as it all comes down to the last couple of innings in Brisbane – Ricky Ponting says it is a commendable job done by Ajinkya Rahane’s side, especially after being blown away for 36 in Adelaide.

“With India we see that they just keep fighting. They’ve been up for the battle and the contest right the way through this series so far. Especially after Adelaide, they’ve been able to produce what they’ve needed to in big moments from there on in,” Ricky Ponting stated.

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