Ponting sees reason in Australia’s controversial decision ahead of India Tests

Australia came under fire for resting multiple key players in an ODI series decider against Pakistan, and lost the series 2-1 – their first series loss to Pakistan on home soil in 22 years.

Coming into the final ODI in Perth with the series square at 1-1, the hosts decided to rest Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, all of whom are part of the squad for the first Test against India in Perth.

Pakistan went on to win that ODI comfortably by eight wickets.

Ponting, speaking on the ICC Review, acknowledged the divisive nature of that strategy, but emphasised the importance of a fresh squad for the upcoming five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series.

“Looking back at it, it must have been something that was decided a long way out because with a series being 1-1, Australian cricket teams don't like losing,” said Ponting.

“The Australian public doesn't like to see their team lose, and I think that's been highlighted over the last few days.”

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Prior to this series win, Pakistan’s last ODI series triumph on Australian soil came in 2002. Since then, they played 10 ODIs across two tours (2009/10 & 2016/17), and won just once.

Given the long interval between the final ODI and the start of the Test series, questions were raised about the decision to rest key players.

“The thing that the public probably found most frustrating was how big that gap was between the third one-dayer and the first Test,” said Ponting.

That said, Australia’s management opted to prioritise player health over the immediate outcome of the ODI series, and Ponting believes that will prove beneficial to the team given the hectic schedule of the five-match Test series.

"But the other side to look at it is that these boys have now got to get through five straight Test matches in quite a short, compressed amount of time,” said Ponting. “And certainly, for the fast bowlers, that's never an easy thing to do.

“So I'm sure the plan was to give those guys that break ensures them of getting through to the end of the Test series a little bit fresher and healthier than they might have been if they had to travel to Perth and play that one-day game.”

Watch Pat Cummins' exceptional performance at the T20WC 2024 earlier this year

Ponting did add, however, that rest alone may not remedy the physical and mental toils of a long Test series, and pointed to the example of India in their previous tour Down Under when they overcame numerous injuries to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“We saw last time that India were here, they were battling more than Australia,” he said. “They had all sorts of injuries on the way through and still found a way to get up and win.

"They [Australia] lost that [ODIs vs Pakistan] series, the first time they lost a series to Pakistan in Australia for 22 years. And now they've got to turn up ready to play that first Test match and look to find ways to win the series."

The first Test of the five-match ICC World Test Championship series between Australia and India will begin in Perth on 22 November.