Get off Ricky's back
Steve Waugh was one of the former captains who said Ricky Ponting made the wrong decisions in Nagpur
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
Steve Waugh was one of the former captains who said Ricky Ponting made the wrong decisions in Nagpur. But in the Daily Telegraph, Waugh says people should get off Ponting's back and explains that captaincy is much harder than many people realise.
When things are going along smoothly, the automatic pilot virtually switches on but when things start to go amiss you are at the coalface making decisions under intense pressure. Invariably there will be decisions that won't be right.
In Ricky Ponting I saw a leader who had been under mounting pressure, a result of injured and out-of-form players, an inconsistent selection policy, an Indian team that no longer were intimidated or afraid to speak their mind in the media or on the field, pitches that made results difficult, slow over rates and bad luck calling the toss. In reality they were clinging on and rarely occupying the high ground, scrambling to stay in the match.
In the New Zealand Herald David Leggat warns against the theory that Australia are in decline and ripe for a surprise beating from New Zealand.
This is baffling, not the least because right now New Zealand are not as robustly combative and skilled as the Indians. When Australia arrived in India, there was always a chance they'd lose the series.
India are no pickles, especially on their own turf, and they were always going to play with a fierce resolve to avenge what they believed were the wrongs foisted on them during their visit to Australia last summer. But this does not translate into the Australians having turned into a mediocre outfit.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here