India are a better team away from home now than they are at home: Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting, the legendary Australian captain, recently praised the India team’s ability to perform better overseas than at home, highlighting their capacity to thrive in unfamiliar environments. Ponting’s remarks came after India defeated Australia by an impressive 295 runs in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT 2024-25).

Given the pace-friendly circumstances, the Indian team was anticipated to face difficulties in the Perth Test. However, following a respectable first-inning total of 150, the visitors shocked the home team by coming back strongly. The tourists set a lofty goal of 534 runs, driven by outstanding batting efforts from Virat Kohli (100*), KL Rahul (77), and Yashasvi Jaiswal (161). Then, Australia’s batting was completely destroyed by the Indian pace trio of Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, and Jasprit Bumrah. “By what margin did Australia lose? Almost 300 runs. They will therefore be quite dissatisfied.

When India won the toss on the first day, everyone asked me whether I had a bat.

I replied, “No, of course, you have to bat first there.” There have been four test matches played there. All four occasions, the team that bats first has prevailed,” Ponting told Star Sports.

“You don’t want to defy the statistics. They had the opportunity to bowl on the wicket when it was most likely at its best, even though they were out for 150. And Siraj and Bumrah under similar circumstances, and all three of them. And today, Nitesh Reddy. They’re all excellent,” he went on.

Jaiswal is undoubtedly very talented: Ponting, Ricky Ponting

In their victory, Team India demonstrated their ability to adjust to the difficult conditions following a few subpar initial workouts. Mitchell Starc, an Australian pacer, commended Yashasvi Jaiswal’s technique in the meanwhile. Australia suffered their second-heaviest home loss in the previous four decades as a result of their victory in Perth.

This thus put an end to their winning run at Perth’s Optus Stadium. India’s ability to adjust to difficult situations was also demonstrated by the triumph, with Bumrah spearheading the effort. Among the best performances by an Indian bowler abroad were his match totals of 8/72. In addition, he praised Yashasvi Jaiswal, the youthful opener for India, for his outstanding effort, which marked a comeback in the second innings after he had been removed cheaply by Starc earlier.

“There has undoubtedly been some buzz surrounding him because this is not his first game, and he is undoubtedly highly skilled. This week, I believe we witnessed that during the second inning. He will play a lot of cricket for India, where he is a tremendous talent. The former Australia captain went on to say, “It was good to get him cheaply in the first innings, but he definitely made amends in the second.”

Therefore, you must give them credit. Since the conditions in Perth are so unfamiliar to them, I have to admit that I didn’t think they could win the first test against India. But before the test match, I also made it clear that, in my opinion, India is now a stronger team away from home than they are at home,” the 49-year-old said.

“They perform better on foreign wickets and conditions, in my opinion, than they do on their current conditions. And I believe that has been demonstrated in Perth during the past week,” Ponting said.