IND vs AUS: India captain Rohit Sharma, who opted out from the series opener in Australia, is slated to join the India camp for the second Test at Adelaide. While most experts would argue that Rohit’s return would strengthen the squad, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes it could “disrupt” the Indian camp. 

“I just think there’s potential for more disruption through their campaign with Sharma coming back and whatever else. So I’ll stick with it (3-1 verdict in favour of Australia),” Ponting said on ICC Review.

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In the absence of Rohit, pacer Jasprit Bumrah will lead India in the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Perth that begins on Friday. Ponting, the highest run-scorer in BGT for Australia, feels India has the right balance despite the recent home whitewash against New Zealand. Ponting believes India is prepared to take on Australia despite Rohit’s absence. 

“India will be pretty certain of what team they’re going to play (in Perth). They’ve known for a while that Rohit probably wasn’t going to be here. They’ve probably known for a while that Bumrah was going to be captain. So they’ve probably known what holes they’ve needed to fill. So they’ll be reasonably settled,” he said. As per the stat book India have dominated the BGT series in recent times, emerging victorious on the last four occasions. 

Ponting reckons the results might not follow the same pattern this time. “(Marnus) Labuschagne and (Steve) Smith need to make runs for Australia. And their bowling attack obviously is as good as anyone’s in the world. So I’ll stick with my 3-1 Australia prediction.”