Ricky Ponting with the Australian cricket team in India in 2008–09 media analyst Peter Roebuck wrote in "The Sydney Morning Herald" and "The Age", "In one of the most baffling displays of captaincy seen in the long and proud history of Australian cricket, Ricky Ponting has denied his side a deserved chance of securing a famous victory. Rather than pressing home an advantage secured by dint of outstanding swing bowling and inspired spin in a fraught and fascinating afternoon session, the Australian captain preferred to use part-timers. Presumably, it was an attempt to improve an ailing over rate. Perhaps he was worried about missing the next match. Both issues pale into
Ricky Ponting the series with 105 runs at 21.00 as the hosts took the Tests 2–1. Despite a poor Test series, Ponting's form in ODIs remained strong. In consecutive tournaments in India and Sharjah following the Tests, Ponting scored 467 runs at 51.88. In addition to three fifties, Ponting scored 145 from 158 balls in the Pepsi Cup against Zimbabwe in Delhi, equalling Dean Jones' Australian record. Ponting also had his first confrontation with Harbhajan Singh, an Indian off spinner who went on to have much success against him. In the Coca-Cola Cup series ODI against India in April, he and Mark