Ponting perturbed over his champion side choking in nail biting finishes

Sydney, Oct 6 (ANI): Ricky Ponting has said he is concerned about his side, known for its mental toughness, choking in crunch situations after taking into account all the tight contests that the Australian team has lost recently.



“We’ve had a few tight ones, we’ve been in some situations in the last few series, some times we could have won games … that’s really the only thing I’ve been thinking about since walking off the ground, South Africa in Australia last time, first Test in Cardiff in the last Ashes series, there’s a few that I’ve been thinking about already,” Ponting said.

“It’s disappointing that we haven’t been able to nail some of those really crucial moments that define champion teams. That’s what we haven’t been unable to do just yet, but the more we get there and get ourselves into those positions we’ll start to grab hold of a few of those chances. When we do that we might just get on a bit of a roll,” he said.

“You don’t know how they’re going to take it until you see them in a similar situation next time,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Ponting, as saying.

“The best way to look at it is like a golfer that has got a couple of shots’ lead with a couple of holes to go and doesn’t get across the line; you don’t know if it’s going to be a good experience having been there once, or if it’s a thing they might not overcome next time,” he said.

Ponting further said that India’s spectacular win due to Laxman’s special innings and Ishant Sharma’s composed stay at the wicket to put on 81 runs for the ninth wicket, had left the team deeply scarred.

“This is a tough loss for us there’s no doubt about it, it’s no good hiding from it, this hurts all of us, and I’m sure it’s hurt a lot of people at home that have been watching on telly. There’s no doubt we’re bitterly disappointed with the result, the dressing room is very, very quiet at the moment,” Ponting said.

The second Test starts in Bangalore on Saturday. (ANI)