Ricky Ponting on arrival at the team hotel in Hyderabad on Monday

Melbourne: Ricky Ponting’s barren run in India is all set to end in the upcoming four-Test series, asserts Australia’s assistant coach Greg Chappell, who feels Anil Kumble’s men should be wary of the Aussie captain’s resolve.

“I can see a steely glint in his eyes and I always worry when I see that in good players because that means there are a few runs around the corner,” Chappell, a former India coach, was quoted as saying by a local daily.

“If I was in the Indian team and I wanted to worry about something, I would worry about that.

“The only discussion we have had about it, in fact he (Ponting) was the one that initiated it and made the comment, was that, basically what he has to do is trust his method,” he added.

Ponting has more than 10,000 Test runs under his belt but has always struggled on the turning tracks of India.

On the current tour too, the feisty right-hander has not made a very good start, scoring just five runs in a practice game in Jaipur against an attack that comprised Ranji-level bowlers.

Chappell, however, foresees Ponting doing well in the Test series starting October 9 in Bangalore provided the Aussie skipper continues to believe in himself.

“If he trusts his method and applies it here, I have no doubt that he will be successful.

“I think there have probably been a few occasions in India where he has got away from that method and that has perhaps been part of the issue when it comes to his performance in India,” he said.

Chappell has apparently been given the job by Cricket Australia to address Ponting’s dismal record in India.

Ponting has scored just 172 runs from 14 innings in India at an average of 12.28 as compared to his overall Test average of 58.37.

The assistant coach worked hard with the Australian captain on a specially-designed “conventional fifth-day India pitch” during the team’s camp at the Rajasthan Cricket Academy in Jaipur recently.

It now remains to be seen how Ponting responds to one of the biggest challenges in his career.

Most of Ponting’s travails have been caused by spin and by one particular exponent of the art. Harbhajan Singh has dismissed him eight times — the only other bowler to have done so is Darren Gough — but even that wouldn’t be so bad if Ponting had made substantial scores before falling to him. He has averaged only 9.50 in those eight innings, managing double figures only twice.