Ricky Ponting: “He just looks like he’s a long way off the mark”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Legendary Australia captain Ricky Ponting has admitted that he feels sorry for Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali.

Ponting’s comments come after Pakistan struggled on the opening day of the second Test against Australia in Adelaide, where the Baggy Greens finished on 302/1.

Ponting noted that Azhar’s tactics have been “a long way off the mark”.

“Terrible,” Ponting told cricket.com.au when asked about Azhar’s tactics on the opening day in Adelaide. “He just looks like he’s a long way off the mark, Azhar Ali.

“He’s only captained 16 first-class games in his life, so he’s a young captain in charge of a young bowling team and they look like they just need a bit more experience at the helm.

“It’s obviously not the most skilled bowling attack of all time. But that’s where you need the captain to be able to help out and set certain fields for you, and tell you exactly what he wants you to do as a bowler. It doesn’t look like they’ve had that direction out on the field.

“It’s not anything personal against Azhar Ali, I’m just saying what I’ve seenon the field. Tactically, he looks like he’s been a fair way behind.

“I absolutely feel sorry for him. Even the fact they debuted a 16-year-old (Naseem Shah) in Brisbane and they couldn’t use him properly for whatever reason, and he’s not playing this game.

“And he just doesn’t look like he’s got the cattle in that bowling group to make any sort of inroads at all.”