"Inevitable they have to make a change": Ponting on Australia losing Test to Bangladesh
Darwin, August 16
Former Australian captain and batting legend Ricky Ponting has said that "it is inevitable" that the Aussies make changes to their line-up as the 2023 World Test Champions succumbed to an embarrassing loss to Bangladesh in Darwin on Sunday.
Hasan Mahmud's sensational nine-wicket haul, a landmark century from opener Tanzid Hasan and an all-round show from Mehidy Hasan Miraz helped Bangladesh secure their biggest Test victory ever, beating a star-studded Aussie line-up that looked a shadow of its former self, looking for answers to several problems that are now reaching a saturation point for them.
Speaking on Channel 7 in a video, Ponting said that this Test series was the right time to "regenerate the team" by testing new players, and they could have got another opener or number three, with Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne struggling for runs.
"I think it's inevitable they have to make change. I was on the record at the end of last summer thinking that this was the ideal time to start to regenerate this team because of the performances from some of the players. I am the last one to want to make change. As a captain or as a player, I wanted to keep the group together. So it has to get to a bad point before I start saying you ought to leave somebody out," he said.
"But there had been enough evidence for me coming here to suggest that they were not going to lose anything or much at all by starting that regeneration, by maybe bringing in another opener, by maybe bringing in someone at No. 3," he added.
Marnus has notably not scored a Test century since the tour of England for The Ashes back in 2023 and has been averaging in the mid-to-early 20s for the most part, with just a few moments of brilliance. Wetherald has not been effective up the order since his debut in the home Ashes last year, scoring 224 runs in six Tests and 12 innings at an average of 20.36, with just one fifty.
Coming to the match, Australia opted to bat first, and despite a counter-attacking 71 in 109 balls (with seven fours and a six) from Steve Smith, they were skittled out for just 198 runs, with Mahmud (6/55) and Taskin Ahmed (2/55). In their first innings, Bangladesh outbatted Australia with a historic century from Tanzid Hasan (101 in 197 balls, with eight fours and a six) and fifties from skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (84 in 126 balls, with seven fours and a six) Mehidy Hasan Miraz (65 in 154 balls, with five fours and a six) took Bangladesh to 426, giving them a lead of 228 runs.
In the second innings, Australia sank to 73/3 again, but it was efforts from Cameron Green (104 in 201 balls, with four boundaries and a six), Steve Smith (44 in 88 balls, with five fours) and Alex Carey (30 in 72 balls, with five fours) that gave them a lead of 56 runs.
Miraz (5/66) and Mahmud (3/56) were the leading wicket-takers for Bangladesh, who chased down 57 runs without breaking a sweat.
— ANI
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