Ind vs Aus: 'Lacklustre' Pujara kept Australia in the game, says Ponting

Sydney [Australia], January 9 : Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting highlighted that the slow approach of the Indian batsmen on day three of the Pink Test turned the tables in favour of the hosts at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
The former skipper criticised India's "lacklustre" effort with the bat, pointing at visitors' batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara.
Pujara who registered his slowest fifty in Test cricket was sent back to the pavilion almost immediately after bringing up the individual milestone, but his 50-run knock came off 176 balls.
Ponting said Pujara's slow batting created an unwanted pressure on the non-striker who had to compensate for his slow approach.
"I think (Pujara) has got to be better than that. He's 16 off his first 100 balls with no boundaries. That is - and I don't care who you are - if you're at the other end and someone is batting like that, so much more pressure comes back on you," cricket.com.au quoted Ponting as saying.
"Because you know you have to be the one that's going to keep the scoreboard ticking over (and) trying to get some momentum going your way as a team," he added.
Ponting highlighted that if a batsman wants to have the slow approach he must bat long enough to get 150 runs at least. The former skipper said Pujara's slow approach actually kept Australia in the game despite his fifty.
"If you're going to play that way and bat that long, he's got to back himself to make sure he gets 100, 150 at least," said Ponting.
"To bat like he did today, finally get a great ball from (fast bowler Pat) Cummins, although he got 50, he just hadn't hurt the Australians at all," he further said.
"In fact, batting like he did actually kept Australia in the game. Although Pujara got the 50 that he got, he's as guilty as anyone for slack, lacklustre batting," he added.
Earlier in the day, Ponting had said that Pujara's approach put more pressure on other Indian batsmen and the right-handed batsman needs to be wary of this fact going ahead.
The former Australian skipper was doing a Q&A session on Twitter and it was then that a fan asked him about Pujara's approach.
Answering the question, Ponting replied: "I don't think it was the right approach, I think he needed to be a bit more proactive with his scoring rate because I felt it was putting too much pressure on his batting partners."
On day three, India's middle and lower-order failed to deliver and the visitors were bowled out for 244 in the second session and Australia took a 197-run lead by stumps on the third day.
Pant and Pujara stitched a 53-run partnership, but as soon as Pant was dismissed, the floodgates opened and India went from 195-4 to 244 all-out.