Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has reacted to ace batter Steve Smith’s indifferent form in Test cricket, saying the opposition teams have found a way to keep the right-hander silent with the bat.

He also stressed that there is nothing wrong with Smith’s technique, and backed the batting superstar to come out of his indifferent form as the former skipper has not been able to score consistently for a long time.

Ricky Ponting said in 'The ICC Review': “The best way to describe it is, it (Smith's form) has been indifferent. For four or five years, he has been so incredibly consistent, making consistently high scores, making four, five or six hundreds in a Test match calendar year and he hasn't been able to do that in the last couple of years.”

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He added, “I have watched him quite closely, and I don't think there is anything technically there that has changed too much. Opposition teams maybe have finally started to work out the way they can slow him down from scoring quickly or have found some ways to attack him and get him out.

But knowing Steve and how well he prepares himself and how deeply he thinks about his game, I don't think it's going to be too long before you see him back there scoring heavily again.”

Australia will travel to India in February-March next year for a five-match Test series, which is part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 cycle, and Ponting said that the Test series will decide the fate of Australia and India for the WTC final.

He signed off by saying, “I think Australia's chances really hinge on the upcoming Indian tour, to be honest and India's chances are a little bit the same. It is always a much-anticipated series – Australia and India, whether it be in Australia or in India – it's much hyped up and talked about, the rivalry between the two countries is just growing year on year.”

(With PTI Inputs)