Australia captain Ricky Ponting insists their era of dominance not over yet
Vanquished Australia captain Ricky Ponting has claimed that his team’s dominance was far from over after their loss in the quarter-final match against India in the ICC World Cup 2011.
The veteran claimed, “It's a bit premature to say it was the end of an era for Australian cricket. I didn't think we were far away from winning a game against a very good Indian team on their home soil.”
Commenting on his team’s performance in the World Cup, Ponting added, “We've lost our last two games in the World Cup. I'm disappointed with that. I thought we were a better team than we probably showed in the last few games. We're all pretty devastated
to finish where we did.”
Ponting further said that his bowlers were not able to put the hosts under pressure and too many extras were given in the match, which eventually cost them the game. He also admitted that the team was not able to put a challenging target on the board, as
there were no big partnerships in the Australian innings.
The major disappointment for the Kangaroos was the lacklustre performance from off-spinner Jason Krejza. The tall spinner failed to gain the advantage of a spinning track and gave away too many short balls to the batsmen, which cost him a lot of runs. Krejza
finished with figures of 45 for none in 9 overs.
There was a lot of criticism on Ponting before the start of the World Cup, as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 had lost the 2010-11 Ashes to England on home soil. The stylish batsman was not able to score runs for his team and many deemed the mega event to be the last showdown
for him.
However, Ponting scored a valiant century in the match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 and proved that his career was not over as a player. The veteran cricketer denied the rumours of his retirement before the start of the quarter-final game, claiming that his motivation
and fitness were as good as ever.
Although Ponting did prove his worth, Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 may replace him as the new captain of Australia. The 29-year-old batsman led his team to a 6-1 One Day International series victory against England before the start of the World Cup and will be the best
choice for the selectors.
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