Despite Australia slumped to a 31-run defeat at the hands of India in the opening Test in Adelaide, former skipper Ricky Ponting has called on the Tim Paine-led side to go with the same Playing XI and retain the same batting order for the second match.
The former Australian skipper believes making amendments in their squad would be really reactionery to their loss at the Adelaide Oval and that it would only create uncertainity.
“Why wouldn’t they do that for this game if that’s their best line-up?” cricket.com.au quoted Ponting as saying.
Earlier this week, Ponting had stated that Aaron Finch needs a lot of work to do if he wants to establish himself as a Test opener. However, he said that if team management feels that Finch should continue to bat at the top of the order, then they should stay firm on their decision.
“I just think that’d be really reactionary. The selectors have made a decision, or whoever is setting the batting order, that they think Aaron Finch is the right guy to be opening the batting for Australia," he said.
Reacting on his former team-mate Mike Hussey's suggestion that the seam-friendly conditions at the new Perth Stadium would make Usman Khawaja a better option to open alongside Marcus Harris, Pontings said,“When you start moving guys around, it just creates more uncertainty. Finch would potentially train differently next week than he had this week because he’s not opening (and) Usman has to train differently because he is opening."
“Little things like that would come into their minds. If I was them, I’d be tempted to keep it the same way," the 43-year-old said.
Meanwhile, Australian skipper Tim Paine refused to rule out changes in the batting order for the upcoming Test against Virat Kohli's men, saying that discussions regarding the same will take place in the next few days.
“Justin’s the coach and he’s got a fair say.So I imagine if he wants to talk about it, it will be on the agenda when we get to Perth," Paine said.
Talking about Australia's chances in the upcoming match, Ponting expressed confidence that the new-look Perth pitch would surely give an edge to the hosts over the Indians and allow them to level the series.
“I think Perth will definitely suit our guys a lot more than the Indian players, but the Aussies need to bounce back pretty quickly.They played pretty poorly this week and got within 30 runs. And that’s not saying India played at their absolute best either, but they’re absolutely capable," the former Australian captain said.
With Australia having retained the same 14-member squad for the second Test beginning at the Perth Stadium on Friday, it will be intresting to see whether the will go with an unchanged Playing XI or not.
