MELBOURNE: His career at the crossroads after a prolonged slump in form, embattled Ricky Ponting has revealed that he had sought help from his first Sheffield Shield coach Greg Shipperd in an effort to regain his mojo back.

Ponting was Tasmania’s youngest Shield player when he made his debut 19 years ago, just after his 17th birthday, under Shipperd who had also coached IPL side Delhi Daredevils.

Ponting said this week’s much talked about batting camp in Melbourne had been good for the entire team and he had asked Shipperd for advice.

“I got Greg Shipperd, my first state coach, to come down and feed me some balls on the machine, so that he could have a bit of a look at what I was doing. He knows my game very well, and I knew the areas I needed to work on and the things I needed to fix,” Ponting said.

“But just to have a different set of eyes and a different set of ears outside of the usual guys was helpful. Just to get here and have another three days of training under our belt has been great,” he added.

Ponting, who celebrated his 37th birthday on December 19, said it was not a case of making changes, but more about getting back to where he once was.

“I have got myself into some bad habits, really. And I had to get myself out of them. It wasn’t major stuff, but really balance stuff and stuff that I guess batsmen work on day-in and day-out. And that was the major point for me.”

Ponting said the intense speculation about his future in the Australian team was not something he had often encountered.

“It’s probably something I haven’t been accustomed to for a long time and I haven’t had to worry about it because my performances sort of kept me away from that speculation and stuff,” he was quoted as saying by ‘Herald Sun’.

“At the end of the day I know what I have to do to make it go away and that’s score runs and score runs consistently.”

NEW DELHI: Despite the absence of pace sensation Pat Cummins and all-rounder Shane Watson from the Australian squad, Indian batsmen will have their task cut out in the Test series starting on Monday, feels former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram.

“Australia will not give flat decks for Indian batsmen to thrive. Their fast bowlers bowl at 145 kmph and above. If all three of them bowl at an average speed of 147-148 consistently then Indians will definitely find it tough. How they cope against it will be riveting to see,” Akram said.

Victoria speedster Peter Siddle, rookie James Pattinson and recalled pacer Ben Hilfenhaus will most likely form the Australian pace attack for the first Test in Melbourne.

At the receiving end of some harsh criticism from the Australian media and former players, the struggling Australian duo of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey found support from Akram who felt they are still dangerous players.

“I understand Ponting is short of runs. I understand he is 37, but so is Sachin (Tendulkar). If Ponting and Hussey stick around in the middle for 45 minutes or one hour, they will get back to form straightaway. Both are physically fit and mentally very tough, they just need one good innings,” Akram said.

Ponting has recorded only one hundred in the last 20 Tests while Hussey is averaging a mere 11.85 in his last seven Test innings.

The recent seven-run loss to New Zealand in Hobart only made matters worse for the two batsmen.

“One of the old boys will go, I think Hussey or Ponting will go,” said 1987 World Cup-winning skipper Allan Border a week ago.

Another former skipper Mark Taylor raised doubts over Ponting and Hussey’s selection for the first Test.

“I reckon Shaun Marsh and Daniel Christian could play in place of one of the two old blokes. Which one? I leave that to the selectors,” Taylor had said.

DUBAI: India can inch towards regaining the top spot by narrowing the gap with current numero uno England in the ICC rankings if they manage to beat Australia in the four-Test series starting on Monday.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side currently sits in second place on 118 ratings points, seven behind Andrew Strauss’ team, while Michael Clarke’s men are in fourth position on 103 ratings points.

Third-ranked South Africa team, which leads the sixth-ranked Sri Lanka 1-0 in a three-Test series, is on 116 ratings points, the ICC said in a statement.

As such, shuffling of the pack in the middle of the Championship table could be on the cards, depending on how the series Down Under (which finishes on January 28) and in South Africa (which finishes on January 7) pans out.

If Australia win all the four Tests, they will jump to 111 ratings points and India will drop to 111 ratings but will still be ranked above Australia by a fraction of a point.

In case of a 3-1 win for Australia, the home side will rise to 108 ratings points and India will drop to 113 ratings points whereas a 2-2 draw will mean Australia will gain two ratings points and India will drop two ratings points.

In a sharp contrast, if India make a sweep of the series, it will move to 122 ratings points and will narrow the gap with England to just three points.

A 3-1 victory for India will put it on 120 ratings points dropping Australia to 101 ratings points, whereas a 2-1 series win will earn Dhoni’s side one ratings point.

In the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, India’s iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who is one short of becoming the first batsman to score 100 international centuries, is the highest-ranked batsman from either side in sixth position.

The 38-year-old from Mumbai trails Pakistan’s Younus Khan by four ratings points.

India also boasts Rahul Dravid (9th), VVS Laxman (14th) and Virender Sehwag (19th) inside the top 20 while Michael Hussey and Clarke are the only two Australia batsmen inside the top 20 in 17th and 18th positions, respectively.

Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan is sixth in the rankings for bowlers, while Australia’s pace head Peter Siddle is in 12th position.

Ishant Sharma, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ravichandran Ashwin, James Pattinson and Nathan Lyon are the other bowlers sitting inside the top 50 and hoping to improve their rankings.

DUBAI: South Africa pacer Vernon Philander continued to move upward in the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers after inspiring his side to an innings and 81 runs victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test at Centurion.

Philander was not only adjudged man of the match for his maiden 10-wicket haul, he has also been rewarded with a jump of 12 places which has now put him in the 28th position.

The man of the match award was 26-year-old’s second in three Tests, who now has 24 wickets to his credit.

Other bowlers improving their rankings include Chanaka Welegedara (up by four to 41st), Imran Tahir (up by 17 to 93rd), Thisara Perera (up by 25 to 110th) and Angelo Mathews (up by seven to 111th).

In the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, South Africa’s AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher are the biggest movers.

De Villiers, who scored 99, has moved up six places to become South Africa’s second best batsman after Jacques Kallis (second) in seventh position. Boucher, who scored 65, has gained two places and is now in 50th spot.

Notable batsmen to slip in the latest rankings are Hashim Amla (down by five to 10th), Graeme Smith (down by one to 12th), Mahela Jayawardena (down by one to 24th) and Tillekeratne Dilshan (down by three to 36th).

Kumar Sangakkara’s rare double failure at Centurion means his lead at the top of the table has been trimmed from 29 points to just five ratings points.

DHAKA: Taufeeq Umar completed his seventh Test century as Pakistan closed in on a first innings lead by reaching 292/3 before bad light ended play on the third day of the second Test against Bangladesh on Monday.

Scorecard

Taufeeq , who was dropped twice, hit 130 before paceman Nazmul Hossain broke through with the second new ball as the home side toiled for a wicket.

Shahriar Nafees took the catch at slip to end Taufeeq ‘s gritty innings that included 16 fours.

Former captain Younus Khan was unbeaten on 48 alongside skipper Misbah-ul Haq (26 not out) with Pakistan needing another 47 runs to overhaul Bangladesh’s first innings total of 338.

The home were left ruing missed chances with three catches spilled.

Nazimuddin dropped Taufeeq in the gully off the bowling of Robiul Islam with the first ball after the lunch break while Nafees grassed another catch at short-leg off Elias Sunny with Taufeeq on 118.

Shahadat Hossain also put down Younus Khan off Nasir Hossain at midwicket when he was on 15.

The hosts made their only other breakthrough of the day when Azhar Ali fell in the second session after the morning’s play was delayed by heavy fog.

Ali had shared a 127-run stand with Taufeeq when he was caught behind by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim off the bowling of spinner Shakib Al Hasan for 57.

Pakistan lead the two-match series 1-0 after a innings and 184-run victory in the first test.