England has lost the Ashes 2017-18 with Australia winning the first three Tests of the five match series. Joe Root’s first Ashes as England captain has become an embarrassment for him, as former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has taken a dig at Root.

Speaking to the British media, Ponting said "Joe seems like he is under the sort of extreme pressure that he has never felt before, which is what you would expect in an Ashes contest. Everything about it is more intense than anything else you play... I know he is not (naturally) too forthright or too on the front foot, but the way he addressed things last week... I think they need him to step up big time.”

"The way he answered a lot of the questions after the game last week, and almost the Brisbane game as well, he seemed almost like a little boy. You need to be more than that as a leader, especially when things aren't going well," he continued.

With 176 runs in the three Tests, the pressure has affected Root’s batting as well and has showed that mental pressure on him has become too much to handle.

Ponting also believed that off-field antics like Stokes’ incident and the latest one with Ben Duckett has shown, that players have no regard for Root’s authority and they don’t have any respect for Root as captain of England.

Ponting also criticized Root and England coach Trevor Bayliss for stating that England players were playing at the same level as Australians.

"Listening to him post-game in Perth, and Trevor does the same thing, where they keep talking about how good they have been and how competitive. I am not seeing that at all," Ponting added.

Ponting concluded, “I think they have been completely blown away and blown off the park. Unless you can find some drastic ways to get better, I'm not sure how they are going to improve."