"Shubman Gill & Ajinkya Rahane played more good pull shots than Australia have played in the two Tests"- Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting feels Australian batsmen did not show enough intent while batting, citing the lack of drives and pull shots from the Aussies as a reason for his thoughts with respect to the past two Test matches.
Ponting, while speaking on the 'Unplayable podcast', further added that on the 4th day of the Melbourne Test, Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane played more pull shots than Australia have played in their four innings so far.
"Probably, yes. But i can count on one hand in Two Test matches how many pull shots have been played, how many drives down the ground have you seen? You can't tell me there haven't been short balls bowled or fulls balls bowled. There have been enough."
"We saw today, i know it was a small total and it is easier to go and play your shots, but Shubman Gill & Ajinkya Rahane played more good pull shots than I think Australia have played in the two Tests. For Indian batsmen to do that against our attack & for ours to not, it'll be a cop-out to just say their bowlers were good."
Australia have been guilty of scoring slowly in the Two Tests, which has miffed plenty of experts including Ponting. The Australian cricket team batted 102.3 overs in the second innings of the second Test, but they could only manage to post 200 runs on the board, scoring at a run rate of just over 2 runs per over.
Australia's struggles against Indian bowlers
Australia went on to create some unwanted records in the Melbourne Test. For the first time in this century, they failed to score 200 runs in a Test innings despite batting for 100 overs. They were 196-9 at the 100 over mark. It was also the first time since 1988 that no Australian player scored a 50 in a home Test match.
Even though India were without some of their key bowlers, the Australian batting struggled. Will the hosts bounce back in the Sydney Test? We will find out soon.