"We’ve enough flexibility to surprise India"

Ricky, welcome to India. How difficult it is to retain the world No. 1 rankings sans greats like Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer?

Ricky Ponting: It will be very tough for us to retain the Number One status in ICC rankings once you lose all-time greats like them. It will be very difficult for any side to sustain the level of excellence like those guys had helped achieve.

Do you think you have done reasonably well after losing such champion match-winners until now?

RP: Yeah! The thing that really impresses me is that even with the absence of those guys, we have been playing good competitive cricket. Any series that we have gone into, we have been ultra competitive and had our moments where we should have won many Test series. The way we have been playing in the last two or three years, there are enough positive signs.

Do you think the side has shaped up well after the Ashes loss?

RP: I think the Ashes was a real learning experience for our young players, many of whom were new to Test cricket. But the amazing thing is that all those players have learnt from their mistakes in the Test defeats and have done really well in the one-dayers. I am very much confident that they will continue in the same vein to play good competitive cricket to win.

You are currently ranked number four in Tests. Do you think that is a true reflection of your young side?

RP: Not really, I think we are a much better side than that. We are number one in ODIs now, which I think is the true reflection of our team.

Do you think other top teams can cope with the tricky business of rebuilding a team like the way Australia has done?

RP: If we compare the rebuilding of other top teams with us, in a couple of years’ time, South Africa will be going through the similar process of rebuilding and I think India too will have to go through that phase when the likes of Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Zaheer and Harbhajan will end their Test careers. By the time they are going through it, we would have invested 30-40 Tests in our younger players, making it a very settled team by then. So it will be interesting to see how those teams rebuild through it. It can be bit of a cycle with the way things work with the timing of the players retiring and new players coming in. But I think we are on the right track as a team.

JN: Which are the teams you think can push Australia the hardest?

RP: I think South Africa, even though they have this habit of missing out on big tournaments but overall if we look at them they are a well balanced side. India too, we have known them for a long time and they are particularly good in one-day cricket.

Ricky, would you put Michael Hussey and Michael Bevan along the same lines in the middle order?

RP: Yeah, both have batted at the similar sort of positions in the batting line up, and both have been recognized as guys who you expect to finish games for your team by staying right till the end. So yes, they are very similar.

What kind of playing eleven have you decided for the ODIs v India? Will you be playing with three pacers, two all-rounders and a spinner like in the recent ICC Champions Trophy?

RP: I think three pacers, one spinner and two all rounders in Watson and Hopes was a ploy that gave us a lot of balance in the ICC Champions Trophy. However, we are still not decided about the batting order. We still have to find a replacement in the eleven for injured Callum Ferguson. It could be Shaun Marsh or Adam Voges. We have enough flexibility in our ranks to surprise the Indians on the day of the match.

Is a seven-match series too long for an ODI series?

RP: Look, the previous series against one team was the Ashes series which went on for close to about four months which is way too long a time to play one side in a calendar year. That tour consisted of 5 Tests, seven ODIs, two T20 Internationals as well. I think five ODIs in a series is good enough, seven games are way too long.

A word on the security arrangements this time around?

RP: I think the security levels this time around are much stricter for obvious reasons but we are here to play good competitive cricket and the authorities have made good arrangements for us so far.

The horse racing season is in full bloom in Australia and the Melbourne Cup is not far away. Have you been betting there or is it just for fun?

RP: Horse racing is always fun to be a part of. It is more of fun then anything else for me.

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Security arrangements are impressive:Ponting

Australian captain Ricky Ponting today said he is impressed with the security arrangements put in place for his side.

"We have been very impressed about the level of security we have had since we arrived. From the moment we stepped off the plane yesterday we have had excellent security," Ponting told a media conference in Mumbai today.

Praising the Indian Cricket Board for providing a tight security cordon, Ponting said this seemed to be part and parcel of international sporting events all over the world.

"You travel to different places in the world these days, security is quite heavy. The BCCI has so far done a terrific job looking after us well and hopefully that will continue right through the tour," said the 34-year-old cricketer.

Mumbai police personnel were present inside the team hotel when Ponting addressed the media conference ahead of the series that commences in Vadodara on October 25.

"The policemen were particularly on the look-out for media persons wearing slippers and one of them explained they (Australians) are our guests and we don't want any untoward incident to take place," he said.

There was also an outer ring of gun-toting policemen to guard the conference rooms entrance and all public vehicles like buses and autos were stopped well outside the Taj Lands End hotel's premises in Bandra.

The BCCI has also made arrangements with private guards to beef up the security at the Mumbai Cricket Association's Bandra-Kurla Complex ground where the visiting and Indian teams would be practising.

Both the teams are set to leave for Vadodara on October 23.

"Seven ODIs is probably too many"

Meanwhile, Ponting feels the seven ODIs against India are a case of one too many and the series should have been a best-of-five affair to keep the players motivated.

"It (seven-match ODI bilateral series) is probably too many. Five is enough head-to-head in any one series. We all know the reasons we are playing these seven-game series," the Australian captain said on Wednesday, hinting that money made by the cricket boards was the sole criteria for having such a long series.

Australia played a best-of-seven contest against England in August-September and would be competing in the lengthy ODI rubber against India from October 25.

Ponting said long-drawn-out contests result in inconsequential matches and players lose focus once the result becomes clear.

"When we play a seven-match series against one side in a matter of a couple of weeks its really hard to focus, especially if the series is over (result decided in one teams favour), to maintain focus throughout, especially if there's another big series coming up," he explained.

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Hard to beat Sachin's records:Ricky

He is chasing the batting benchmarks set by Sachin Tendulkar but Ricky Ponting is not sure whether he would achieve them.

But the Australian skipper wants to focus on playing match-winning knocks for his team.
"It would be nice if he retires some time," Ponting quipped.

"I was asked about this (chasing Tendulkar's records) in South Africa. He's been the benchmark for international players in the world," he said at a media conference on Wednesday.

"I think he's going into his 20th year in international cricket which in itself is a remarkable feat within itself.

The records he has set in Test and One-Day cricket would be hard for anybody to tame down the track," he added.

As far as he was concerned, Ponting said he would be happy to win more and more games for Australia with his bat.

"I will keep plugging away, doing the best I can and hopefully keep playing well enough to win a number of games for Australia. Thats what its all about," he said.
"Its not about personal achievement or how many runs you score, its the number of games you can win for your team. So I will do my best to win quite a few games for Australia in the next couple of weeks," he added. .

The 36-year-old Tendulkar has scored 12,773 runs, including 42 hundreds, from 159 Tests and 16,903 runs (44 tons) in 430 ODIs after making his international debut in November 1989 in Pakistan.

Ponting, aged 34, has 11,345 runs from 136 Tests (38 hundreds) and 12,044 runs from 324 ODIs that includes 28 three-figure knocks.

He made his international debut in February, 1995 through ODIs and later played his first Test in December that year.

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Ponting for points system to stop ODI dead rubbers

The reinvention of one-day cricket has been a hot topic of discussion over the past few months and Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, has joined the debate by calling for a points system to give the format "significant meaning". Speaking ahead of Australia's departure for India for a seven-match ODI series, Ponting gave the example of the 6-1 win over England recently as proof that dead rubbers hurt the game.

"The way that one-day cricket is played at the moment with one-off series like this … until there is a points system in place then it might get to the same sort of situation as it did in the UK," he said. "We were 4-0 up after four games and all of a sudden there is talk of teams rotating players in and out and doing all sorts of things.

"So the important thing I think is we make sure that every game of 50-over cricket has some significant meaning."

The ICC is considering a trial splitting of one-day matches into two innings of 25 overs for each team, a proposal Sachin Tendulkar had mooted earlier. Graeme Smith and Kumar Sangakkara felt the ICC Champions Trophy would be crucial in directing the future of the ODI as a viable format in international cricket. Other trials in international cricket include hosting day-night Tests, which the England board plans for next summer if approved by the ICC.

Mitchell Johnson, the Australian allrounder, backed 50-over cricket to survive the threat posed by Twenty20 cricket. "Test cricket is number one for me but then it's followed by 50-over cricket," he said. "I prefer 50-over cricket [over Twenty20]. I hope it doesn't die, because I love the game."

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Ponting ponders Australia's batting options

Australia have embarked on their one-day tour of India uncertain of their preferred batting line-up with injuries to Michael Clarke and Callum Ferguson forcing adjustments to their Champions Trophy-winning side. It has left Ricky Ponting and the selectors with several choices ahead of the seven-match series, which starts on Sunday.

Ferguson is sidelined for up to a year with a serious knee injury picked up in the final against New Zealand, while Clarke could join the squad late in the series if his back soreness eases. Shaun Marsh is in the 15-man group but faces a challenge to bump the in-form Tim Paine from the opening spot, while regular 12th man Adam Voges might finally get a run of opportunities.

"The selectors and myself are going to have a bit of thinking to do over the next few days as to what we do with the batting line-up," Ponting said at Sydney Airport on Monday as he prepared to fly out to India. "Paine coming in has had a fair bit of success at the top of the order and given himself every opportunity to remain there.

"You go back six or seven months, then Shaun was one of the up-and-coming batsmen in our Australian team and someone who has got a very good record at the top of the order for us, so we've got some tough decisions to make there. But whichever way we go there we know we've got very good depth in our batting with someone like Shaun coming back in, so hopefully we get it right on the morning of the first game."

Marsh hasn't played for Australia since April, when he suffered a hamstring injury during the one-day series against Pakistan in the UAE. At least Ponting is familiar with Marsh - not so the new spinner in Australia's squad. Jon Holland, the Victorian left-armer, was a surprise selection and he'll be doing well if Ponting even recognises him when the group gathers in India.

"I've seen 20 minutes of him bowling in the nets leading up to the Boxing Day Test last year, that's as much as I've seen of Jon," Ponting said. "He gets good raps from all the other Victorian guys ... everyone believes he's got a good future. It's great to have a young cricketer around the group, especially a young spinner making a tour of India.''

Holland, 22, is already in India, where he has played every match for Victoria in the Champions League Twenty20. There's no guarantee Holland will play in the ODI series, with Nathan Hauritz firmly entrenched as the leading spinner, but Ponting hopes he will at least gain important experience for the future.

"You can't help but learn when you get over there and bowl in those conditions and bowl to better players like Jon will be doing," Ponting said. "He'll be bowling to all the Australian batsmen over the next few weeks and he might get an opportunity to bowl to some very good players of spin in the Indian batsmen, so some great opportunities lie ahead for Jon. I'm looking forward to spending some time with him over the next few weeks."

Australia enter the series in form, thanks to their Champions Trophy triumph, but Ponting said little could be read into that tournament in South Africa, where India failed to progress past the group stage. "They will be particularly hard to beat in India, they always are," Ponting said. "They definitely play a lot better at home than they do when they travel."

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Ponting better than Sachin:Chappell

NEW DELHI: Former Australian captain Ian Chappell rates Ricky Ponting as a better batsman than master blaster Sachin Tendulkar.

Through this statement, Chappell is believed to have started the war of words twelve days before Australia's first ODI against India.

Speaking exclusively to Times Now, Chappell said, "He (Sachin) has been an outstanding player. And to be an outstanding player for such a long time takes a lot of things. But for a long part of his career he was the best batsman in the world. I don't think he is that anymore. I think Ricky Ponting has taken that role over now."

The assertion is a clear sign that the mind games have started before the seven-match ODI series. But that is not all. Chappell added, "There are a couple of new players who have brought to the side, which helps to liven the team up. The thing about Australia is that if they are on the field playing, they are there to win."

Chappell added that though the Indian spinners could trouble the Australian batsmen, the world champions are the favourites to win the series.

Chappell further said that the rivalry between India and Australia is for good for the game.

Beware India, seems to be the message from the Aussie camp. This after Australian pacer Brett Lee revealed his intention. He said, "I don't have a specific target on any batsman. Anyone from number 1 to number 11 is good for me."

The cocktail of rivalry, drama and high adrenaline cricket is already brewing between the two camps, but we will have to wait to see who has the last laugh.

The first ODI of the seven-match series between India and Australia is to be played on October 25 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

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