India may be tougher - Ponting
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 Hobart
20-Nov-2007
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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 Day
and Ponting hopes it won't disrupt the team's
momentum.
"It's up to us to start the Melbourne Test the same
way we started in Brisbane," Ponting said after the
96-run win over Sri Lanka in Hobart. "Hopefully we can
get on top of them early and stay there for the rest
of the summer. At the moment India are probably a
slightly stronger side than Sri Lanka and last time
India were here they played very well against us."
India start their three-match series against Pakistan
on Thursday and Australia will be watching Kumble in
his 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 to
do it, I don't think. Rahul Dravid did it for a short
period of time. When he resigned he said he just
wasn't enjoying the role."
Ponting is already aiming for a strong opening when
the teams meet in Melbourne. "If we play well and
start the series well," he said, "generally we can put
the captain under pressure."
However, he was wary of India's ageing stars. "Dravid,
Ganguly, Laxman and Tendulkar are all very good
players and they have all done well against Australia
in the past," he said. "We know how dangerous they can
be."
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 a
group and show character as a group," Jayawardene
said. "We have to realise we played against the best
team in the world right now and they were in form as
well."
Peter English is the Australasian editor of Cricinfo