Ponting confident about overcoming technical flaws

Perth, Jan.11 (ANI): Former Australian captain and key batsman Ricky Ponting said on Wednesday that he is confident about overcoming the technical flaws that have troubled him during the leanest patch of his international career.

Addressing a news conference ahead of the third test against India to be played at the WACA from Friday, Ponting conceded that he had been in a rut and had needed to try some new training methods to address problems with his trigger movement and balance at the crease, issues that contributed to a stretch of 33 Test innings without a century.

That drought ended last week at the SCG, where Ponting's 134 helped set up Australia's innings victory over India.

Ponting felt that his 40th Test ton was in the making since the second innings in Johannesburg in November. He said scores of 62, 78, 5, 16, 62, 60 and then his Sydney hundred reflected that he was back to some sort of form.

"I've made some progress on getting to where I want to be. The biggest challenge for me with the technical flaws that I've been working on has been getting enough quality time in the middle and starting to feel that bit more free again and feel my rhythm starting to come back into my batting," Ponting said.

Commenting on his technical flaw, he said: "It was all about my initial movement and the balance, they're the only things I've been working on the last few months."

"I've just done a few different drills that I've incorporated into my game that I've never had to do before," he added.

"I've had to work really hard on my game in the last few months and I've felt that I've made a bit of progress the last few weeks and been able to put up some good scores on the board," Ponting said.

Ponting will be aiming to improve on his record at the WACA when the third Test begins on Friday.

The venue is the only one of Australia's six major grounds at which Ponting averages less than 55 in Test cricket, and it is significantly less: he averages 43 in 15 Test appearances in Perth. He has scored only one Test hundred there, against Pakistan in 1999. (ANI)