Ponting was the first to speak out and he said that his side dominated the match. He said that their team came out aggressive in the morning and they were not in a good position or had more chances of winning the game and the Indians too were in the same position that’s what the skipper said.
And about the declaration he said, “If Sehwag fired then they might have chased but once we got him, it was about getting regular wickets but Sachin and Laxman had that partnership,” said Ponting and then he continued: “I am not surprised with the way the Indians played today, they play a lot of drawn matches.”
About Cameron White:
Ponting said he was satisfied with the inexperienced side’s performance and especially leg-spinner Cameron White. “In terms of a quality spinner, we have a long way to go but I was impressed with the way White bowled. This experience will help him and also Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson.”
“There was talk about our inexperienced guys but they did well,” Ponting said and also said that White is an aggressive bowler.
“White is someone like Anil Kumble. Lots of side spin, over spin and basically wicket to wicket. Now you don’t call Anil less aggressive would you?” said Ponting.
He also said was satisfied with wicket keeper Brad Haddin despite the 39 byes that marred the scores. “On this pitch it gets difficult. I have never kept wickets and I don’t think you have either so it is better that we don’t comment,” Ponting said.
Ponting admitted that the crucial partnership between Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh in the first Innings took the game away from the mighty Aussies and he added that the “pitch did not deteriorate the way we expected.”
Kumble was happy too:
Now it was Anil Kumble’s turn and he was happy with his team’s performance and he expected his batsman will fire in the next set of matches. “I am pretty satisfied with the way we played especially after losing the toss on a wicket like this that has cracked up a bit,” said the Indian captain.
“If we had won the toss we would have fancied our chances bowling last but overall the performance was good.“
“The batters did reasonably well and Zaheer and Harbhajan did well in that crucial partnership,” Kumble said.
Kumble said that the Indians would have chased 299 had Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir clicked. “If Sehwag and Gambhir had got a good start then we would have given it a crack. They got out but we did well and I think we can win the series,” Kumble said.
Appraising his own performance, Kumble candidly said: “All the other bowlers played their part and I did play my part as a captain but I want to come into the bit about playing my part as a player in this series. One bad match doesn’t make a bad cricketer.”
Fab four?
And on the Indian middle order, Kumble said: “I am happy with their performance and I hope they all get hundreds in the next game.” He also made known his displeasure at the stereo-typing the Indian middle order as the ‘fab four’. “Would you please explain what this fab four is?” fired back Kumble.
Kumble also termed the scrutiny around V.V.S. Laxman as unfortunate.
“Laxman is a true champion, has played 97 Tests and had a large role in our winning moments. This axe on his shoulder is not done,” Kumble said.
About his home pitch, Kumble said: “The Bangalore pitch is not what it was ten years back, the soil has changed and it cracks up a bit these days.”
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