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Legendary cricketer Ricky Ponting has highlighted the crucial key moment in which he believes India made mistakes during the opening two days of the ICC World Test Championship final but is excited by pacer Mohammed Siraj's attitude and abilities.
While Ponting thought India's tactics were incorrect on the first day, he was impressed with their second-day fightback, as they bundled out Australia for 469. On the second day in London, Siraj was a big motivator for India's improved performance with the ball, with the right arm embracing the challenge of bowling to Australia's powerful batting line-up - and picking up four vital wickets. Siraj peppered Australia's lineup of quality bats with short-pitched offerings and even participated in a few mid-pitch staring competitions, which excited Ponting. "I loved seeing that and he looks like the ultimate competitor. Maybe sometimes he gets carried away and goes a little bit over the top, but you need those guys in your side when things aren't going well. He was the one today who said I am going to be the guy that is going to turn things around and what I loved was that his pace didn't drop at all during the whole innings," Ponting told International Cricket Council (ICC). "From the first ball yesterday morning until late this afternoon, his pace was hovering around that 86 or 87-mile-and-hour mark and that says a lot about a great attitude," he added. Siraj was the pick of the bowlers, but all four quicks were excellent, as was Ravindra Jadeja. The Indian top-order collapsed yet again even as the Australian attack overcame a comeback partnership by Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane to take firm control of the WTC final on Day 2 at the Oval in London on Thursday. At the close of play on Day 2, India had posted 151/5 at The Oval on Thursday.KS Bharat (5*) and Rahane (29*) were unbeaten at the crease as the stumps were drawn at the end of the final session. (ANI)
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