Former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting feels that it was Brain Lara who was much more threatening than Sachin Tendulkar. The Australian batting great rated the West Indian batsman higher than Tendulkar because of the matches he won for his country.
Ponting reckoned that the left-handed batting legend gave him those sleepless nights whenever he came on to bat. Ponting was quoted by DNA saying, "Sachin and Lara were the two stand-out batsmen for me. Lara won more games for his team than Sachin probably has. I would lose more sleep as captain knowing Lara was coming in to bat next day than I would with Sachin.”
"You always found a way to restrict Sachin if you needed to. Lara could turn it on in half an hour and take a game away from you. For me, it has never been about making hundreds, it is about winning games and series," Ponting was quoted as saying by the 'Evening Standard'.
Australia may have suffered a defeat in the first Test at Trent Bridge but Ponting still believes that they can turnaround especially after the fight-back they did in the last match. "I said 2-1 to Australia at the start and nothing has changed for me, no," he insisted.
According to a report in Deccan Chronicle, Ponting said, "We've got a lot of hard work to do but it seems like things are on the right track. It is a Test match lost but for the Aussies it will reinforce them to think just how close they are and may be there's not that big a gulf between the teams.”
"If they can take that away from the first Test, it will do them good at Lord's this week. We have some very good young players. They are just starting to find their way and Ashes series tend to bring out the best in some," he concluded.