Ponting questions India's preparation for WTC final: 'They have been outplayed'

Ricky Ponting who especially raised questions about the readiness of their undercooked pacers feels Indiasperformance in the World Test Championship final against Australia has shown their preparation was not ideal India are staring at another unfavourable result in an ICC final after conceding a firstinnings lead of 173 runs to Australia on a seaming pitchWhile Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami have been potent in the game Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur looked a bit rusty having not got a lot of overs under their belt in the IPLThakur bowled 21 overs in the whole of IPL and Umesh bowled 19 less than what they bowled in Australias first innings hereI think they have been outplayed so far Their preparation wasnt probably ideal coming into a oneoff Test what with all their players being at the IPL You know few of the Australian boys were there Few of the Australian boys hadnt done anything for three months either Ponting told PTI in a select media interaction at The OvalAlso Read Steve Waugh questions Indias squad selection for WTC final Picked the wrong sidePonting said at the end of the day it comes down to individual preparationI dont know effect on Indian batters If you ask Virat he would say that its been perfect for him because he has got all sorts of runs If you asked Rahane he wouldnt have been picked for this match without the IPL So its going to work both waysI had a chat with Shardul this morning he said hes started to feel the pinch because he has not been able to get enough bowling The over that he has bowled in a day and a half he bowled in the whole of IPLPonting felt both the teams have looked rustyI sort of underlined coming into this game what was the best preparation was it out and playing pretty high quality competitive cricket in the IPL or was it better off being at home and resting up and doing a bit of non competitive training So far its shown that both teams have been a bit rustyOneoff game and in the time of the year theres never going to be ideal preparation time for anybody But you got to do the best you can to get prepared and get ready and try and execute it on the day I mean Travis Head is a great example hasnt picked up a bat for a few monthsIt comes down to the individual he said referring to Heads counter attacking hundred that helped Australia get 469Given how Rahane has played selectors have to take big callsAjinkya Rahanes 89 against a formidable pace attack and in a comeback game makes Ponting wonders why he was not in the team in the first placeHe played beautifully I said at the lunch break when you can play like that you wonder why he hasnt been picked in the team he has always been a classy looking player player that has a good defence we know his record suggests that he plays at his best when his team needs him the mostHe has got few more Tests against the West Indies If he makes runs in those games with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul getting fit the selectors will have some big decisions to make said the former Australia captain who is a WTC ambassador and is commentating on the finalPonting added that he would not change anything to the current WTC format and is all for a oneoff game rather than a best of three finalI love it the oneoff format I wish I was there when I was playing Its a World Cup final over five days They have clearly been the best two teams in the world over the last two yearsWith PTI inputs