Ricky Ponting believes India will provide a stronger contest than Sri Lanka and has warned the new captain Anil Kumble to expect extra heat during the four-Test series that starts on Boxing Day
Peter English in Hobart20-Nov-2007
Australia have finished one successful series but now they must plan for a four-match contest against India © Getty Images
Ricky Ponting believes India will provide a stronger contest than Sri Lanka and has warned the new captain Anil Kumble to expect extra heat during the four-Test series. Due to a change in the traditional itinerary,Australia now have a five-week break before Boxing Dayand Ponting hopes it won’t disrupt the team’smomentum.”It’s up to us to start the Melbourne Test the sameway we started in Brisbane,” Ponting said after the96-run win over Sri Lanka in Hobart. “Hopefully we canget on top of them early and stay there for the restof the summer. At the moment India are probably aslightly stronger side than Sri Lanka and last timeIndia were here they played very well against us.”India start their three-match series against Pakistanon Thursday and Australia will be watching Kumble inhis new role. “Kumble will be under pressure coming to Australia,” Ponting said. “Anyone who captains India is always under a lot of pressure. A lot of very, very good players in the past haven’t been able to cope with that.”Sachin Tendulkar probably didn’t ever really want todo it, I don’t think. Rahul Dravid did it for a shortperiod of time. When he resigned he said he justwasn’t enjoying the role.”Ponting is already aiming for a strong opening whenthe teams meet in Melbourne. “If we play well andstart the series well,” he said, “generally we can putthe captain under pressure.”However, he was wary of India’s ageing stars. “Dravid,Ganguly, Laxman and Tendulkar are all very goodplayers and they have all done well against Australiain the past,” he said. “We know how dangerous they canbe.”While Ponting’s team can relax for a couple of weeks,Sri Lanka return home on Wednesday to prepare for the three-match series with England starting on December 1. Mahela Jayawardene said it was important for his team to refocus quickly after the heavy 2-0 defeat to Australia.”We have to sit down and talk about where we are as agroup and show character as a group,” Jayawardenesaid. “We have to realise we played against the bestteam in the world right now and they were in form aswell.”