Ricky Ponting is backing Australia to continue its excellent form going deeper into the World Test Championship campaign with a strong squad up its sleeves barring a few spots that he believes the selectors might revisit their choices for.
Australia, having bagged 296 points since the start of the Ashes in UK, retaining the urn before hammering Pakistan and New Zealand in home conditions, next travels to Bangladesh for a two-match series this summer and Ponting reckons, there are more positives to feel confident with than the negatives to worry about at the moment.
"At times I would have liked to see Burns be a little bit more consistent and make consistently bigger runs," the former skipper told cricket.com.au. "Opening the batting is never an easy thing and I said after Brisbane I think we just need to show some faith and lock him in for a couple of years."
"Matthew Wade's spot is probably another one that will be talked about. I was disappointed that he didn't capitalise on some really good batting conditions in the first innings of this Test (Wade was out for 22)."
"I know deep down he'd be hurting as well, he doesn't need me or anybody else to say he missed an opportunity there."
"The bowling group, with Hazlewood to come back in, looks rock solid. A back-up spinner would be ideal in case something happened to Nathan Lyon. Who's the next cab off the rank? It might be (leg-spinner Mitch) Swepson, hopefully, it is," Ponting added.
"But there aren't too many missing pieces and knowing how hard they've worked this group of players, they'll do whatever they can to keep the same group together for as long as possible."
"I think they've brought together something pretty special as far as a group of players is concerned. The puzzle is almost complete."
Joe Burns, Matthew Wade, Travis Head would certainly like to put more runs on the board but there is no reason why they shouldn't be retained for the next challenge. "I can't see why they would want to change that and it would be a good learning experience for some of the guys that haven't been there," Ponting said. "If Joe Burns is a long-term project at the top then he needs to learn how to play in different conditions, same with Matthew Wade and Travis Head."
The last time Australia went there, it conceded a Test in Dhaka in a 1-1 drawn series. "They are going to be difficult conditions over there, they are going to be spinning wickets we know that," Ponting said.
"They challenged us last time in Bangladesh. The boys will know what to expect and it will be a good learning curve for all of them."
(Inputs from cricket.com.au)
