Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has offered an evaluation of India’s shock defeat to South Africa in the first Test in Kolkata, arguing that the team’s preference for heavily spin friendly pitches is hurting their batting more than it is unsettling visiting sides.
His remarks come at a time when India are preparing for the second Test in Guwahati, where Rishabh Pant is expected to lead the team in the absence of Shubman Gill, who is nursing a neck injury.
Ponting expressed firm confidence in Pant’s ability to step into the role at short notice.
Having coached the wicketkeeper batter at Delhi Capitals, he said Pant’s experience in the IPL has equipped him with the mindset needed for sudden leadership.
“It’s never easy to come and fill in for a stop-gap captain, especially when you’ve lost a Test match a few days before,” Ponting said on the ICC Review. “Rishabh is reasonably an experienced Test-match player now and being a wicketkeeper probably helps him see how the game is evolving. He’s done it in the IPL for the last few years… I think he will be fine. It will be interesting to see how he plays as captain and how he manages his style of play as a batter.”
The former Australian skipper directed most of his criticism at the surface India chose for the opening Test.
India were bowled out for 93 in a 30 run defeat while chasing 124, a collapse that has intensified scrutiny over the team’s declining batting record against spin in recent years.
“They prepare these wickets so much in favour of spinners that it negates the quality of their spin,” Ponting said. “It makes opposition spinners better when they get wickets that turn like that. And in the last five or six years, India don’t play spin as well as they once did. They’re evening it up for everybody else.”
Ponting agreed with Gautam Gambhir’s assessment that India should have chased down 124.
“Chasing 120 in the last innings, they should’ve been able to get that done,” he said. “But on pitches like that, one wicket becomes two… pressure builds quickly with fielders around the bat.”
He also commented on Washington Sundar’s unexpected promotion to No. 3, praising his composure but calling the move tactical and temporary.
“He has done nothing wrong with the bat… but I wouldn’t like him to bat at three outside India,” Ponting said, suggesting Sundar might have been filling a gap as India’s fourth spinner in the XI.
With South Africa holding a 1-0 lead in the series, Ponting’s remarks underline a larger concern within Indian cricket.
The team’s biggest challenge may not be the opposition’s skill but the suitability of their pitches and the increasing vulnerability of their batting against spin.