Ricky Ponting believes India may consider bringing in an extra quick for Sunday’s World Cup game against Australia after seeing the holders’ top order flattened by a hostile West Indies pace attack.
With Mohammad Shami not playing against South Africa, Ponting suggested that India may include the pacer at the expense of Yuzvendra Chahal or Kuldeep Yadav.
“(Jasprit) Bumrah, we know is a very good new-ball bowler and I’m sure he’ll mix it up and bowl some short stuff and some full stuff.
“Bhuvneshwar (Kumar) will probably not worry you too much with his pace or his bouncers. Hardik (Pandya) can maybe rush you a little bit, so maybe they have a decision to make on the overall make up of their side.
“Do they maybe go with only the one spinner and use Kedhav Jadhav as a second spinner and play another fast bowler?
“We’ll worry about that in the next couple of days and make sure all the boys are prepared,” the Australia assistant coach and former captain was quoted as saying by the Cricket Australia website.
Ponting suggested that Aaron Finch and Co.’s early wobble in their thrilling 15-run win over the Windies side could be a necessary wake-up call ahead of their clash with India at The Oval.
“It’s just a little bit of a blip in the radar that we’ll have a chat about and make sure we’re prepared for the next game. It could very well be a wake-up call.
“Just understanding that if you are under pressure in big games like the World Cup ones, finding a mechanism or a way to get through is important.
“It could be just a good learning curve for those guys at the top and hopefully, they’ll bounce back strong,” he said.
The three-time World Cup-winner said he would seek answers from the likes of Usman Khawaja and Glenn Maxwell on coping with the short ball after their dismissals saw Australia slump to 38/4 in the first half-hour of the game.
“I’ve got some notes written in my book about that exact thing.
“I just want to know what’s going through his (Usman’s) mind.
“For me, being back involved in the team now, I want to understand what they are thinking about at different times.
“It’s not always just about the execution, it’s also about what’s going inside your mind that causes the poor shots.
“Usman got hit again … So, he has had a few hits in the last few weeks…
“I haven’t spoken to him to see if he’s rattled, but that’s part and parcel of top-order batting against brand new balls against guys who are bowling 140kph.
“You’ve got to find a way to cope and a way to get through hostile spells, knowing that it’s not going to last forever,” Ponting said.