“This probably hurts more for the fact that I am captain this time,” he said when asked if the defeat in Kolkata in 2001 was more painful. “I was more delirious in Kolkata after spending four days on the field. This is a game, I think, we should have won. This hurts all of us. I am sure back home people watching it on television would have expected us to win the match, but we couldn’t.”
Does he regret allowing VVS Laxman to bat with a runner? “No, not at all. The umpires told me apparently his injury happened during the game while fielding on day one,” replied Ponting, before showering praise on the right-hander. “The fact that he batted at number 10 (in the first innings) shows that he obviously was pretty sore still. That showed the sort of class player he is. I thought he really played well, he got the tail to stick around with him and he had the knack to pick the boundary whenever he needed.”
While stating that the Australian dressing room was obviously very quiet, Ponting stressed the need to take the positives from this game and bounce back in the second Test.
“The boys are pretty exhausted and we start our preparations the day after, when we hit the ground in Bangalore. We played a very good Test match. We are playing the number one Test team in their backyard and obviously it’s pretty tough. Having said that, we should have won this match. But on the positive side, we have done really well in a lot of areas and I am proud of the boys.
“Our second innings wasn’t as good as it was supposed to be but it still gave us the total which was always going to be difficult to chase. Our approach to the bowling should have been exactly the way it was last night. But credit to them, they played well after being eight down. They outplayed us in the last couple of hours and that’s what it really is all about,” he explained.