Ricky Ponting came down heavily on India for being 'underprepared' against Australia in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) at The Oval in England.
Travis Head and Steve Smith toyed with the Indian bowling attack in the first innings to help their side post a score of 469. In response, India got bundled for just 296, which handed the opposition a hefty 173-run lead.
Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav have been pretty ordinary as they did not get many overs in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL). In fact, Thakur and Yadav have bowled more overs during Australia's first innings than they did in the entire IPL.
Ponting did not mince his words and hit out at India's preparations before the test match.
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What did Ricky Ponting say about India's preparations?
"I think they have been outplayed so far. Their preparation wasn't probably ideal coming into a one-off Test what with all their players being at the IPL. You know, few of the Australian boys were there. Few of the Australian boys hadn't done anything for three months either," Ponting told PTI.
"I don't know (effect on Indian batters). If you ask Virat, he would say that it's been perfect for him because he has got all sorts of runs. If you asked Rahane, he wouldn't have been picked for this match without the IPL. So it's going to work both ways.
"I had a chat with Shardul this morning, he said he's started to feel the pinch because he has not been able to get enough bowling. The over that he has bowled in a day and a half, he bowled in the whole of IPL," he stated.
However, the former Australia skipper praised Ajinkya Rahane and Travis Head for their incredible batting display.
"It comes down to the individual. One-off game and in the time of the year, there's never going to be ideal preparation time for anybody. But you got to do the best you can to get prepared and get ready and try and execute it on the day. I mean, Travis Head is a great example, hasn't picked up a bat for a few months."
Speaking on Rahane he said: "He played beautifully. I said at the lunch break when you can play like that, you wonder why he hasn't been picked in the team... he has always been a classy looking player, player that has a good defence, we know his record suggests that he plays at his best when his team needs him the most.
"He has got a few more Tests against the West Indies. If he makes runs in those games, with (Shreyas) Iyer and KL Rahul getting fit, the selectors will have some big decisions to make."
What is Ricky Ponting's opinion about the current ICC WTC format?
Ponting put his weight behind the current one-off test format rather than the best of three final.
"I love it (the one-off format). I wish it was there when I was playing. It's a World Cup final over five days. They have clearly been the best two teams in the world over the last two years," he concluded.
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