“His defence was not the greatest” - Harbhajan Singh opens up on why Ricky Ponting struggled against him
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh feels Ricky Ponting struggled against him because the Australian's defense was not the greatest as he played with hard hands.
The former Aussie captain is rated among the legends of the game. However, Ponting did not have a great record against Harbhajan. He was dismissed 10 times by the Indian in Test cricket, the most any bowler in the traditional format.
Speaking to Brett Lee on the latter’s podcast, the former Indian cricketer shared his views over his domination of the Aussie great. He explained:
"There is no doubt about how great or big a player he was, and whenever he played the game, he wanted to dominate. But what I found as a bowler – it could be just me talking about it or what I felt – bowling against Pointing was that he had very hard hands against defending the ball.”
The 41-year-old added:
"So that's what made him vulnerable. His defence was not the greatest. He used to defend with very hard hands. So that's what made him vulnerable. My bounce was something he could not play as well as the other bowlers."
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Ponting had a torrid time against the 'Turbanator' during the historic 2001 Test series in India, when the latter sent him back to the pavilion five times. One of the wickets came as part of a hat-trick during the Kolkata Test. Incidentally, the former Australia captain was Harbhajan's 300th Test wicket as well.
“He is still a top player” - Harbhajan Singh praises Ricky Ponting
Despite his dominance over Ponting, the former off-spinner praised the Aussie and described him as one of the best batters the game has seen. He stated:
"Maybe I am lucky that I was able to get him out 11-12 times in Test cricket. But yes, it doesn't make him a lesser player. He is still a top player and if I have to pick my top five guys who dominated world cricket in terms of batting, I would definitely have Ricky Ponting in that list."
The duo later played together for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL). While Harbhajan retired from all forms of the game in December 2021, Ponting is currently the head coach of the Delhi Capitals (DC) franchise.