Australian team manager Steven Bernard hails super skipper Ricky Ponting

Two faces in the Australian team have been familiar to India since 1998: Skipper Ricky Ponting and manager Steve Bernard, the former New South Wales pace bowler, who later served as national selector.

Bernard experienced yet another significant win with the Australian team thanks to his side's 4-2 ODI series win over India.

Sixty-year-old Bernard, who has made eight official trips here, rated his side's win as a greatly satisfying experience because of the challenges faced when they lost nine of their regular players due to injuries.

MiD DAY spoke to Bernard at the DY Patil Stadium where the seventh and final one-day international was called off yesterday due to rain.

Excerpts:

Ricky Ponting faced a different kind of challenge than his predecessors Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor...
Ponting is a very positive man. In his case, the bottle is half full, not half empty. He leads by deeds and his batting has been very good in his series. He was not concerned (by the injuries). He accepted that he had new players and was very focused in moulding the new players into a winning combination. He has natural confidence in himself and his players, and it comes through in his performance. The players take a lot of confidence from his behaviour and demeanour.

You have been with the Australian team since 1998. Winning with a young and developing side with so many injuries must be very satisfying...
It's been said by many Australian captains that touring India is difficult because it is a very good side and on home tracks they are very hard to beat. It's very satisfying for the team as a whole that we had to bring in so many new players and blend them into the team. To be able to win such a tough, close series was very enjoyable for all the people involved to see that happen.

How did the team management handle the injury crisis?
Most members of our team management and support staff are very pragmatic people, who understand the nature of any sport, especially cricket and that injuries will occur. There is no team in the world that escapes injuries. At some stage it is going to affect every team and you try and manage your medical side as best you can. There is nothing much you can do about it. You accept it, learn to cope with it and get on with it.

Did you ever notice the confidence of the team slipping a bit during the injury crisis?
Not at all. It was considered by everyone to be a great challenge and it was up to us to rise to that challenge. No one got low on confidence. These cricketers are very realistic people and accept that new players might come in and we have to pull together as a team.
For the support staff, it is important to maintain a very steady equilibrium. They can't afford to be over-emotional and worry about these changes. We did not lack confidence. We saw it as a challenge and prepared as best as we could for it.

The series was especially important considering that the No 1 ranking was at stake...
We lost the No 1 mantle a couple of months ago and got it back. Any side which is No 1 knows that there will be a lot of challenges involved. We have regained the No 1 ranking and the challenge is to maintain that standing. We have two very good teams, India and South Africa snapping at our heels and we need to keep wining to maintain that standing.

We are going through a transition phase with new guys coming and adapting to international cricket and becoming part of the team. It's very satisfying and more fun to see young guys coming in and develop.