Sydney, The Border-Gavaskar Trophy, considered one of the game''s prized possession, now appears destined to return to Indian hands because of Ponting’s blunders on the fourth day, said an article in The Daily Telegraph.

The paper blasted the Aussie captain for running behind at least 13 overs on the fourth day, as he talked tactics to contain the Indians and opting for wrong bowlers choices on the penultimate day of the last Test, especially when the hosts are leading 1-0 in the four match series.

“RICKY Ponting had every reason to hang his head in shame last night after allowing India to escape the noose in the crunch fourth Test,” said the paper in the hard hitting article.

With wickets desperately needed on the fourth day so as to not to let the match slip out of his hands, Ponting had to roll the dice and unleash chief strike weapons Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee or Shane Watson immediately after tea. Instead, he turned to the part-time spin of Cameron White, who has five wickets in the series, and Mike Hussey, who has never come close to one in his Test career, to hurry through the overs with frontline spinner Jason Krejza.

“It was bewildering to watch White and Hussey undo the amazing work of Krejza, who had suddenly given the tourists a chance of victory,” said the article and added: “India had been 6-166 at tea, with an overall lead of 252. That was a strong advantage, but had the tourists been able to hold India to another 100 runs, it certainly would have been possible to chase down 350 off a minimum of 90 overs today in three sessions to win on a pitch holding together relatively well.”

The paper further said: “In his most embarrassing moment in his 48th Test as Test captain in five years in charge, Ponting opted to worry more about improving Australia's sluggish over rate than going for broke to try and snare a must-win match when a result was clearly on the line.

India moved on to be all out for 295, a lead of 382 meaning Australia, at 0-13 at stumps, still face an unlikely chase for a further 369 today at just over four-plus an over. Ponting''s problem began at tea when Australia had been nine overs behind the ideal rate to ensure they got through the minimum requirement of 90 overs in a day. The tourists had only themselves to blame for averaging a dreadful 12 overs an hour until that stage.

The fast bowlers, typically, had wasted time between overs, and Ponting, as usual, spent too much time talking tactics with his bowlers. “Ponting is not an intuitive captain like, for instance, his first Test skipper Mark Taylor,” the article said and added: “Therefore, he often needs more time to talk tactics with his bowlers - despite endless team meetings where plans are set.”

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