Ponting seeks to end India jinx
October 08, 2010 00:00:00
BANGALORE, India, Oct 7 (AFP): Australian captain Ricky Ponting will look for a personal change of fortune in India as the tourists attempt a series-levelling win in the second and final Test from Saturday.
The Aussies take the field three days after enduring one of the most heart- breaking defeats in recent history during the first Test in Mohali, which Ponting admitted hurt him badly.
India, reduced to 124-8 while chasing 216 for victory, squeezed home by one wicket as Venkatsai Laxman defied back spasms to make an unbeaten 73 and shared a ninth-wicket stand of 81 with tailender Ishant Sharma.
The defeat left a shattered Ponting still looking for his first win as captain on Indian soil, having lost four and drawn two of his six previous Tests at the helm.
Both Ponting and his Indian counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the sheer excitement of the closing stages of the Mohali Test had drained the two sides.