Ashes 2019 | Ricky Ponting slams people criticising Steve Smith’s inputs to Tim Paine
Ricky Ponting is of the opinion that Steve Smith should be allowed to give as many inputs as he can to Tim Paine and has slammed the people who have criticized him. The former Aussie captain has also added that it would be silly for Paine not to use Smith’s cricket brain whenever he needs to.
Although Steve Smith was punished with a two-year ban from captaincy after the Newlands ball-tampering scandal, he did enough to redeem himself with the bat and scored two centuries at Edgbaston to announce his comeback in style. Even on the field, standing at first slip, he was seen sharing strategic plans with Tim Paine which created a lot of media criticism. But Ponting was quick to dispel that and throw his support behind the duo’s regular conversation.
“I read a bit of that stuff this morning, with people online going on about the fact he shouldn’t be doing it because he’s not captain. That’s an absolute load of rubbish. He’s not captain. He’s not tossing the coin and he’s not picking the team. But an experienced guy like him with a cricket brain that he’s got, Tim would be silly to not try and tap into that and not try to use him when he can,” Cricket.com.au quoted Ponting as saying.
The very Test epitomized the importance of the former Aussie skipper and what he brings to the table as he stood out as the major difference between both the teams. His batting was invaluable in the context of the game and the way he batted with Peter Siddle, was just brilliant to say the least. Ponting was all praise for the New South Welshman and stated that the team heavily relies on the batsman.
“He’s served his time as far as his playing suspension goes and everyone knows he can’t captain again until next year. He’s part of a team that is relying on him heavily for his experience, so he can help in whichever way and wherever he possibly can. And I’m sure if Painey or anyone around the team wasn’t happy with it, then it wouldn’t be happening.”
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