Australia will bounce back, says Ponting

Ponting said the visitors deserved to win the third Test in Perth and keep alive their hopes of squaring the series 2-2 in Adelaide but warned Australia would learn from their errors.

He said the home team were not at their best at the WACA, misjuding the pace of the pitch and making a string of fundamental mistakes.

8220;It was a tough four days, India deserved to win the game the way they did. They outplayed us for the majority of the game,8221; said Ponting.

CRITICAL MOMENTS

8220;A lot of our skills have let us down more than anything this week. I thought our preparation was great and it was just little critical moments in this match we faltered and it8217;s been a long time since we8217;ve done that.8221;

Saturday8217;s defeat was Australia8217;s first in a Test for nearly two and a half years and their first at home since 2003.

It also ruined their chances of setting a world record of 17 consecutive Test victories.

8220;Sixteen matches in a row is a great achievement, it would have been great to win one more but we haven8217;t been good enough in this game,8221; said Ponting.

8220;The run was always going to come to an end at some stage, we just haven8217;t played a brand of cricket that has been good enough to win this match.8221;

Ponting said he was not surprised at how strongly India rebounded from the disappointment of losing the first two Tests and said he was expecting his side to do the same in Adelaide.

8220;The Indians are a very good team,8221; he said. 8220;We never underestimate any opponent and certainly not the Indians because we know they, particularly their batting, can be a formidable opponent and their bowlers did a terrific job here.8221;