Ricky Ponting feels Australia need to patch up 'little holes' in Finch-led ODI side

As Australia gears up for ODI series against England, former Australian skipper Rick Ponting said that he feels the Aaron Finch-led ODI side still need to work on their game. Ponting is currently quarantined in the United Arab Emirates ahead of another season of Indian Premier League (IPL) which starts from September 19.

“We'll see how the Aussie boys go, but they've still got some work to do on their one-day cricket, I think. We know their T20 cricket of late has been good and we know their Test cricket has been outstanding, but there's still a few little holes in their one-day game and hopefully, they can patch them up over the next week or so,” cricket.com.au quoted Ponting as saying.

Australian men’s team currently stands at fifth position in ICC Cricket rankings while England remains the world number one team in the limited-over format. Australia has been dominating ICC rankings in T20 cricket and test format but the team is still to show a dominating performance in one-day cricket in which England and India are leaders.

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Problem at Number 3

The Australian team has been struggling in the ODI format and has tried six different players at number 3 position in the past 30 games. Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Peter Handscomb have batted at the key position and Ponting believes there should be a permanent batsman in such role.

"They need to find someone that's going to bat at No.3 for them for a long time...It's such a pivotal role, they need to find someone who's going to be a long-term player there,” said Ponting.

Australia and England will kick-off the ODI series from September 11 and all matches will be played behind closed doors due to COVID-19 restrictions. Australia lost the T20 series 2-1 against England after a shocking loss in the first match. Australia had to score 39 runs from last 36 balls with 9 wickets remaining but lost the match by 2 runs. 

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