Aussies need to learn nuances of T20 cricket: Ponting

Australian captain Ricky Ponting on Monday confessed that his team did not take Twenty20 cricket seriously and needed to learn the nuances of the game to lift its modest international record in the shortest format.

“I don’t think there was any need for it to be taken ultra-seriously before the World Cup. The games that were played before World Cup were almost played as exhibition-type matches — to promote the other forms of the game,” Ponting said on returning home from India.

“I think that was the way it was used by most boards around the world, but now it’s pretty clear and apparent to us that we’ll be playing a lot more. When there’s a World Cup event in any form of the game, you want to make sure you understand the game well and you play the game well,” he was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press.

“Our international record’s not great, we’ve probably only got a 50-50 win-loss record and that’s something we’re going to improve on over the next couple of years,” he added.

Ponting admitted his team was still being educated in the nuances of the game. “We probably learnt a little bit through the World Cup about the format of the game. Going there we were all pretty new to it, pretty inexperienced in Twenty20 cricket,” he said.

The Australian captain said with the Indians winning the Twenty20 World Cup and talks of star-studded Twenty20 Leagues the game was sure to get further popular in the sub-continent.

“There’s no doubt the popularity of the game in the part of the world we’ve just been is amazing. With India having won the World Cup, the game is going to be massive over there.

“There’s a fair bit of talk about other Twenty20 leagues starting in India, so there’s a fair bit happening with that form of the game,” he said. 

Pakistan Tour of India 2007 schedule

Fri 2/11 – Tour Match
09:00 local, 03:30 GMT TBC v Pakistanis
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Tue 6/11
09:00 local, 03:30 GMT 1st ODI – India v Pakistan
Nehru Stadium, Guwahati

Fri 9/11 Floodlit Match
14:30 local, 09:00 GMT 2nd ODI – India v Pakistan
Punjab C.A. Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

Sun 11/11
09:00 local, 03:30 GMT 3rd ODI – India v Pakistan
Green Park, Kanpur

Thu 15/11 Floodlit Match
14:30 local, 09:00 GMT 4th ODI – India v Pakistan
Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior

Sun 18/11 Floodlit Match
14:30 local, 09:00 GMT 5th ODI – India v Pakistan
Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Thu 22/11 – Mon 26/11
09:30 local, 04:00 GMT 1st Test – India v Pakistan
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Fri 30/11 – Tue 4/12
09:30 local, 04:00 GMT 2nd Test – India v Pakistan
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Sat 8/12 – Wed 12/12
09:30 local, 04:00 GMT 3rd Test – India v Pakistan
M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

We proved Twenty20 World Cup victory was no fluke: Dhoni

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the Indian team had proved that their Twenty20 World Cup victory was not a fluke as they mauled Australia by seven wickets in the one-off Twenty20 international on Saturday.

“It (victory) means a lot. We wanted to prove that World Cup victory (in South Africa) was not a fluke,” he said after the match.

Dhoni said that team wanted to enjoy and play with intensity. “We wanted to enjoy. The benchmark was to play with intensity and to put up a good fielding and bowling performance,” he said.

The Indian captain also hailed opener Gautam Gambhir for his splendid show with the bat.

“Gautam played excellently. The way he batted was amazing. He was out of the team because of injury and made a good comeback. I hope he bats the same in the Pakistan series,” he said.

Man of the Match Gambhir said he was keen to carry on his good form in the One-day format. “I think it (Twenty20) is working for me. I am playing well and I want to continue (with this form) in 50-50,” said the Delhi batsman.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said Indian deserved the victory. “I think their spinners bowled well in the middle and we did not get enough runs.”

“While bowling, we gave away no balls and they scored off those free-hits. They deserved the victory today. I guess they are not World Champions in this format for nothing,” Ponting said.

However, he said his team can go back home with heads held high after sealing the One-day series.

“We played well overall and won the One-day series, which is not easy in India. We can go back happy.”

CCI life membership for Twenty20 winners

The Cricket Club of India conferred honorary life membership on the 15 players and coaching staff of the Twenty20 World Cup winning team here on Friday.

All the players of the team, excluding captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virender Sehwag, were present on the occasion.

CCI President IM Kadri honoured vice captain Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Joginder Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth, R P Singh, Rohit Sharma, manager Lalchand Rajput, bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad, fielding coach Robin Singh, physio John Gloster and trainer Gregory King.

Hailing the T20 World title winning players, CCI Managing Committee member and former Mumbai Ranji captain Milind Rege recalled an occasion when the club had conferred life membership on the 1983 World Cup winning team.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was present on the occasion, while ex-President of the club Raj Singh Dungarpur was conspicuous by his absence.