Ponting to carry on playing trademark ‘pull shot’ during India tour

MOHALI - Australian captain Ricky Ponting has refused to shelve his pet ‘pull shot’, which appears to be his weakness in recent times, during the two-Test series against India.

Ponting said that the shot has brought him more runs than any other, and he has been working hard to make it perfect.

“I just think if I’m playing it (the pull shot) well, then it’s probably the biggest weapon that I have. It’s probably the shot I’m famous for throughout my career,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Ponting, as saying.

“I got out a few times playing it last year and have worked hard on that specific shot the past month as well, a lot of my training’s been based around making sure I’m strong where I need to be strong.”

“Sachin might’ve put the cover drive away for one innings, but I think he’s still playing it now,” he added.

The 35-year-old further said that a decline in batting form has been a matter of unhappy circumstances, in addition to an arm injury.

He also believes that he would be back making big runs in ongoing Test series.

“I’m not that worried about (my form). I know what I need to do to give myself the best chance of playing well. That’s all I can control and then I get out into the middle and it’s about making big runs,” Ponting said.

“Last year was a disappointing year for me because I was nowhere near as consistent as I had been six or seven or eight years before that. It was just one of those years where you had to look at it and almost wipe it out of your memory.”

“Once I got my arm right last year I never felt like I was in bad touch, it was just all those sorts of things piling up in one pretty short period of time,” he added. (ANI)