cricket

Updated: Dec 15, 2018 20:08 IST

It has been a disappointing start to the Test series against Australia for India opener Murali Vijay and former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting believes that Prithvi Shaw should replace him for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

“I think it’s got to be Murali Vijay who goes,” Ponting told cricket.com.au.

“It was probably a bit of a bat-off coming into the series between those two. I saw him (Shaw) out in the outfield today hitting a few balls, starting to look like he’s getting around a bit better and with 10 days to go before the next Test you’d think he’ll come back in. So I think it’s got to be Vijay that goes out,” Ponting said.

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Shaw injured his ankle during the warm-up game against Cricket Australia XI and that saw Rahul and Vijay both find a place in the XI. The 19-year-old jogged around the ground in Adelaide with a protective brace on his left ankle when the Indian team was getting ready for the fifth day of the first Test against Australia.

However, he was not included in the squad for the second Test due to some injury concerns.

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In the three innings he has played in the last two Tests, Vijay has scores of 11, 18 and zero and on all three occasions, he was dismissed by left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc. Ponting was all praise for the fast bowler and said that he deserves credit for the way he bowled on a Perth pitch that was not doing much.

“We saw him get out twice in Adelaide to very similar shots; two balls from Starc that just pushed across, didn’t swing back in and he nicked both of those and he got the other one today that comes back through the gate. Give credit to Starc for the way he’s bowled to him,” Ponting added.