Long way before India can be No.1: Ponting

“If they think they can be world champions after winning one Test, well, good luck to them,” the Australian Test skipper-in-waiting was today quoted as saying in a Daily Telegraph report headlined “Ponting warns cocky Indians”. But Ponting was quick to point out that India did have the ability to become a top side in the world. “They have got the side (to be the No.1), they are a good team but there is a long way to go yet.”

Still licking the wounds after the shock defeat, Ponting said his side would have to play “extremely well” to prevent another defeat in the series. “We are going to have to play extremely well to win this series. They (Melbourne and Sydney) are both pretty good batting wickets which the Indians generally play well on,” he said.

With the defeat sinking in slowly, leg-spinner Stuart MacGill said the mood in the dressing room was “pensive”.

And there was pure admiration as MacGill tried to analyse India’s win in a report in the Sydney Morning Herald. “The great lesson for us to learn this week is the way they won the Test match — they did it through patience.

“Dizzy (Jason Gillespie) and I both thought we had bowled as well as we had done in months, years perhaps, and yet they took no notice of the scoreboard and just proceeded to protect their wicket,” said the bowler.

The furore over coach John Buchanan’s criticism of Australian batsmen’s shot selection was still evoking varied reaction in the media. Although former great Ian Chappell labelled Buchanan’s comments as ‘ludicrous’, Adam Gilchrist said he agreed to his coach’s view.

“I tend to agree with him. We did not particularly play well and appropriately to the circumstances,” he was quoted as saying.

“It is probably debatable what words you could use to describe it but the harsh reality is we did not apply ourselves as well as we should have in order to bat India out of the game.”