Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has come to the defence of young India batter Sai Sudharsan after he bagged his second duck in as many matches since his Test debut in the opening match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England last month.
After stroking his way to his maiden half-century in the first innings at Old Trafford, the 23-year-old Sudharsan had a nightmarish evening on Saturday when England seamer Chris Woakes reduced India to 0/2 after England surged ahead by 311 runs in the first innings. After Woakes snapped Jaiswal for a duck, southpaw Sudharsan suffered a horror dismissal as the ball brushed his palms as he shouldered arms, offering a catch to Harry Brook in the slips.
Ponting, however, said India must not shuffle too much and rather back Sudharsan to steady himself at No. 3 after the Tamil Nadu batter was dropped for two Tests since his debut, with Karun Nair taking over the spot.
“It just creates internal pressure, the pressure a youngster doesn’t need or someone coming in doesn’t need looking over their shoulders on if they will get another opportunity. That’s why I was really surprised that they made the call on Sudarshan for the first Test and then went away from him and then went straight back to him,” said Ponting on Sky Sports as he discussed India’s No. 3 conundrum.
“For a young bloke, you want that bit of reassurance from your captain and your coaches – We are picking you now and we are going to give you a decent run at it and see how you go. I’ve got no doubt that Sudarshan is going to be good enough,” he added.
Ricky Ponting analyses Sai Sudharsan’s batting technique and gives some advice 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/5M0vOATTpU
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 24, 2025
Ponting also said the Indian team management must take a leaf out of the Bazball philosophy, where skipper Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have backed under-fire players like opener Zak Crawley and No. 3 Ollie Pope despite their middling career Test averages.
“They’ve got to show the faith in him, a lot like Brendon (McCullum) and Ben (Stokes) have done with a lot of the batters in their side – Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley. If you trust them, then you keep backing them that they are going to play these big match-winning innings for you at some stage,” said Ponting.
Ponting’s technical advice for Sudharsan
While his half-century in the first innings may have relieved him from some duress of a duck on Test debut, Ponting highlighted certain chinks in Sudharsan’s batting technique.
Story continues below this ad
“He is standing there, wanting to tap his bat on the ground. But you can’t do that and have your eyes level as well. Most of the modern players stand in the crease with their bat lifted to get their eyes level with the ball’s release point,” Ponting said in a video shared by the broadcasters.
“If I were teaching him or coaching him, the one thing that I would like him to do is tell him to keep the bat up and get his left eye towards the umpire instead of it being towards mid-off or the bowler’s run-up. Because he is looking at the bowler’s release point and his bat is also down, if the ball comes towards him, he doesn’t have time to adjust, and you could see that with the ball down his leg to which he got out.”
“He is finding it hard to play that ball coming into him. But if he keeps his bat high and his eyesight towards the umpire, he would have a lot of time and can access a lot of areas straight down the ground,” Ponting noted in his analysis.
