Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting said that India won the first Test against Australia because they decided to bat first. He also mentioned about the previous stats of Perth, where the last four Tests were won by the teams who batted first.
India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah was someone who shocked everyone when he decided to bat in Perth. Ponting was with Bumrah fir this decision, and also praised Indian pacers for their spectacular performance against Australia.
“Australia lost by what? Nearly 300 runs. So, they’ll be very disappointed. Everyone asked me on day one when India won the toss about having a bat, and I said, no, absolutely, you have to bat first there. Four test matches have been played there. The team batting first has won all four times. You don’t want to go against what stats say. Although they were out for 150, they still got a chance to bowl on the wicket when it was probably at its best to bowl on. And Bumrah in those conditions, and Siraj, and actually all three of them. And Nitish Reddy. They’re all very good. So, you’ve got to give them credit, said Ponting.
Ricky also believes that Indian team is better in performing on foreign wickets as compared to home conditions as they registered a dominating 295-run victory against Australia and taken a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series.
“I must admit, I didn’t think that they could win the first test, India, going there in Perth with conditions that are so foreign to them. But I also made a point going into the test match that I actually think India are a better team away from home now than they are at home. I think they play foreign wickets and conditions better than they play their own conditions now. And I think that’s been proven over the last week in Perth,” he added.
