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“I’d lose more sleep as captain knowing Lara was coming in to bat next day”

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has revealed that he always saw West Indies batting legend Brian Lara as more of a threat compared to the ‘Little Master’ Sachin Tendulkar.

Ponting noted that he felt this way since Lara had the capability of staying at the crease for longer periods of time and leading his team to victory.

“Sachin and Lara were the two stand-out batsmen for me,” Ponting said. “Lara won more games for his team than Sachin probably has. I’d lose more sleep as captain knowing Lara was coming in to bat next day than I would with Sachin.

“You always found a way to restrict Sachin if you needed to. Lara could turn it on in half an hour and take a game away from you. For me, it has never been about making hundreds, it is about winning games and series.”

Meanwhile, with Australia currently trailing 2-0 to England in the ongoing Ashes series, Ponting believes the baggy greens still have the ability to end the series as a tie or even win it if they push themselves to the limit.

“We’ve got a lot of hard work to do but it seems like things are on the right track,” he said. “It is a Test match lost but for the Aussies it will reinforce them to think just how close they are and may be there’s not that big a gulf between the teams.

“If they can take that away from the first Test it will do them good. We have some very good young players. They are just starting to find their way and Ashes series tend to bring out the best in some.”