Ricky Ponting Takes Sly Dig At England After Their Struggle At World Cup

At a time when England’s World Cup hopes are hanging by a fine thread, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has rubbed more salt to their wounds by taking a sly dig at them. After suffering two back-to-back losses against Sri Lanka and Australia, England are now in a huge spot of bother. The hosts now need to win both of their remaining games to ensure a smooth passage to the last four.

One win could also take them to the last four but they will have to depend on other results. What has made their task trickier is the opponents they will face in their last two games – India and New Zealand. Both the teams are currently placed above them in the points table and will definitely make it tough for England to get over the finishing line.

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And as England gear up to bring their campaign back on track, Ricky Ponting has questioned their batting approach. Ponting, who has won three World Cups as player and a captain, expressed his doubt over whether England’s high-speed batting approach was ever going to work at the World Cup. The former Australia captain questioned England’s inability to score big in the World Cup.

“They haven’t made these 400 scores they have been talking about all the time,” Ricky Ponting told cricket.com.au. “The scores have been lower in this World Cup, as I think Justin (Langer) and I had spoken about at the start.

“Tournament play is a lot different to a regular bilateral series where England have come out and scored some huge scores in the past few years. Was their game going to stand up under pressure? We’ll have to see in the next few games. They need to improve,” added the legendary player.

England have scored two of the biggest totals in the tournament but have also failed to chase down 232 and 285. In their last two games, they were all out for 212 and 221.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s win over New Zealand has further spiced up the race for the semifinal spots. If Pakistan win all of their remaining matches and England lose even one, the former will make it to the last four. The likes of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also in contention for a semifinal berth.