Ricky Ponting batsmen in danger on the final day, a rearguard counterattacking partnership by Kevin Pietersen and Ashley Giles on the final afternoon secured a draw for the hosts. Thus, the Ashes were lost for the first time in 16 years. The setback to Australia, and to Ponting as Australian captain, of the 2005 Ashes defeat, was to prove a strong motivation for the Australian camp to improve their standards and overcome any complacency that may have arisen from Australia's being the world's premier cricketing nation for a decade. Prior to the Ashes defeat, Australia's dominance had prompted the ICC to organise
Ricky Ponting with the Australian cricket team in India in 2008–09 earlier in the year. He had also struggled in a previous three Test series during 2001, scoring 17 runs at 3.40. Ponting acknowledged prior to the series that he was keen to rectify his poor Test batting record in India, believed to be because of his weakness against spin bowling. Though, from 1 January 2004 up until the start of the first Test, Ponting scored 1510 runs and an average of 83.88 in 64 innings against spin bowling, thus being the only Australian to score more than 1,300 runs and average over 70. Australia headed into the First Test at