Ricky Ponting has highlighted a big mistake by the Indian team, which can be exploited by Australia to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade.

Cheteshwar Pujara was the main reason behind the team’s twin victories. He scored 521 runs in seven innings with the help of three hundreds in the 2018-19 series. On the next tour Down Under, the right-handed batter accumulated 271 runs in eight innings with the help of three fifties. He faced 1258 balls in the 2018/19 tour and 928 in the next chance in 2020-21.

Speaking to Channel 7 Cricket, Ponting said that India made a mistake by not adding Pujara to the squad.

“I think Pujara was a big part of the success India have had in Australia. He batted for long sessions and didn’t allow the Australian bowlers to breathe easy. When the bowlers are brought up for the second, third, fourth spell of the day, that is when you can put the pressure on the Australians,” he said.

Ponting mentioned that with Australia playing without injured Cameron Green, Pujara would have been the perfect batter against the Aussie bowlers.

“With Green misisng from the side, Mitchell Marsh will have to do a lot of bowling. India would have been able to take on him if Pujara was a part of the Test side. I think India will miss him unless they find his replacement,” he added.