AUS v IND 2018-19: Ricky Ponting explains why Khawaja's catch to dismiss Kohli was a great catch

Virat Kohli was dismissed for single figure score as India plunged into more problems on Day 1.

It could well be the catch of the summer | Getty

Former skipper Ricky Ponting praised Usman Khawaja for perhaps pulling off the catch of the summer when he flew to his left in the gully and stretched a dive to take a stunning one-hander off Virat Kohli, on Day 1 of the first Test at Adelaide.

Australia was able to dismiss Kohli very early on in his innings for just 3, as India finished the day at only 250/9 on the back of Cheteshwar Pujara's magnificent 16th Test ton.

"It's a great catch (from Usman Khawaja) because of how much he's moved to his weak side. But when you add on the fact that it's Virat Kohli in the first innings of the first Test of the summer, that makes it an even better catch," Ponting told cricket.com.au, "He's improved his fielding out of sight. I'm on record as saying that when he first came into the side years ago, it was almost an aspect of his game that he hadn't worked on much."

"He'd obviously always been a gun batsman as a junior and probably never focused as much on his fielding as he needed to … that's certainly the way it looked. You can see now he's a bit trimmer, he's lost a bit of weight, he's obviously more focused on his fitness and his fielding than ever before. And I think that shows with his batting (and) the way he applies himself as well."

"The reason you do all your training and all your hard work before the game is just in case a moment like that comes. You want to make sure you've practiced it and trained it so it's not a fluke when you actually take one in a game," the batting legend further said on Khawaja's fielding brilliance.

Ponting understands how important that catch - taken to dismiss the best batsman of the opposition team when you're under pressure right at the start of the series - is, as he gave credit to head coach Justin Langer and captain Tim Paine for ensuring an enhanced level of fitness around the group.

He said, "I know those guys were given some pretty clear direction on the way they needed to present themselves at the start of the summer, I know Justin's philosophies on that sort of stuff and it's fair enough."

"These guys are highly paid professional athletes and when you have days like this (on Thursday) when it's 39 degrees, it's obviously going to be easier getting around when you're 10 kilos lighter."

"It helps preserve your energy, but also mentally it's obviously going to make things easier. Full credit to those guys, they've obviously put in the work and it's started to pay off for them," he signed off.

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 07 Dec, 2018

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