Ponting satisfied with World Cup lead-up
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Ricky Ponting remains positive despite the numerous injury setbacks that have rocked Australia's World Cup campaign even before its start. A host of first- and second-choice players including Mike Hussey, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, Clint McKay, Shaun Marsh and Xavier Doherty have failed to make the 15-man squad due to either fresh injuries or ones that did not heal in time. Ponting, however, was not complaining and pointed out that he had no doubts about his team's chances.
"I don't really care where we start the tournament. It is irrelevant, to tell the truth," Ponting said, when asked if the injuries had robbed the defending champions of the favourites tag, before highlighting that the same apprehension had been expressed ahead of the 2007 tournament as well. "At the last World Cup, there was a fair bit of negativity about our team, about where we were heading as a one-day team. We'd lost the CB series in Australia, went to New Zealand and lost the series 3-0. You can understand that there were a few doubts about our team. And we know what happened there. We went through it undefeated."
Ponting, playing his fifth, and last, World Cup felt the 6-1 series victory against England had erased the Ashes misery, putting the players in the right frame of mind ahead of the big event. "Our lead-up couldn't really be much better, having just beaten a pretty good English side 6-1 at home with quite a few of our more senior players not taking part," he said. "We are in good shape. We've got some really good confidence and a bit of momentum around our team. We've got a couple of weeks before we need to be playing our absolute best."
Ponting did concede he would dearly miss Hussey, especially with the left-hander's amazing ability to absorb pressure down the batting order and play the finisher's act elegantly. But the Australian selectors were sceptical about pushing forward Hussey's case even though the player himself said later he was expecting to be included. Hussey underwent surgery after picking a serious hamstring injury during the one-day series against England. "Losing Michael Hussey is a big loss to our setup. There is no doubt about it," Ponting said. "His experience and his knowledge of the game in tournaments like this are almost second to none. We will miss him," he said, but finished the sentence by saying the other Hussey (David) was now in good position to fill the shoes of his elder sibling. "He's [David] played well in the last series at home and has started to learn what it takes to bat down in the middle order in a one-day setup," Ponting said.
Jason Krejza, who made his ODI debut in the last match of the England series, was another player Ponting had a lot of faith in. The offspinner found a World Cup berth only after Hauritz failed the fitness test on Tuesday, having bowled a dozen deliveries at what he termed "60 to 70%", which was not enough to convince the selectors to go with him. Doherty, the original back-up for Hauritz, also suffered a back injury, giving Krejza the opportunity to return to India, where he had made his Test debut, picking a match haul of 12 wickets in Nagpur on the 2008 tour. "He's a guy that can be a real match-winning bowler for you. He does put a lot of work on the ball and spins the ball a lot. He will appreciate bowling in these conditions here," Ponting said of his fellow Tasmanian, who had good control over batsmen during the Big Bash where he picked up nine wickets in seven matches at 6.36 runs per over.
Ponting said Krejza could play a crucial role if he bowled according to the situation on the slower pitches in the subcontinent, where slow bowlers have a wider say, especially in the crucial middle overs. "Any international bowler you have, you want them to be able to play both roles - attacking and defense," Ponting said. "If we get the right mix of guys around him as well - [Brett] Lee, [Shaun] Tait, [Mithcell] Johnson, [John] Hastings, [Doug] Bollinger - all fairly attacking bowlers, there should not be any reason why we will not able to break partnerships in this tournament," Ponting said. "It's exciting to have someone like him in the group. He's a noted wicket-taker and if he bowls his best in these conditions, he could have a really big impact on some of the games that we play."
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