India vs Australia: 'It's something they might really rue in the next 24 hours,' Ponting critical of India's fielding

Ricky Ponting was not impressed with India's catching on Day 4 of the third Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.

Ricky Ponting was not impressed with India's catching on Day 4 of the third Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday. Ponting weighed in on Hanuma Vihari's drop catch second ball of the day, when he put down Marnus Labuschagne at square leg, believing such misses are inexcusable and that the drop may have a bearing on the outcome of the match.

Hanuma Vihari of India looks dejected after dropping a catch of Marnus Labuschagne. (Getty)

Labuschagne was on 47 when he flicked Bumrah straight to the fielder at square leg. The ball went a little low to Vihari but it was as easy as they come. India missed out on picking up an early wicket and Labuschagne went on to score 73. Ponting feels the excessive padding on Vihari's arms did not help him and India could well suffer the repercussion of it as they chase a steep target.

“No excuses whatsoever. That was an absolute sitter. He’s spilled it in that position before as well. It was like he was out of position. The only thing we picked up from the commentary was the amount of padding he had on his hands,” Ponting said on The Unplayable Podcast.

“From my experience, it does make catching that bit difficult when you have so much padding on the inside of your palm. That was an absolute sitter and especially in that phase of the game when India needed to taking early wickets. It’s something India might really rue in the next 24 hours.”

India are chasing a daunting 407-run target to take a 2-1 lead in the series and even though they are 98/2 at stumps on Day 4, needing 309 more run will take quite an effort batting fourth against a formidable bowling attack. Opening the batting, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill added 71 runs, with the pair registering their second fifty-plus partnership of the match. Although it will take a historic chase for India to pull this one off, Ponting believes there is hope.

“There’s a glimmer of hope to be honest at the moment. The wicket doesn’t seem to be playing as many tricks as it was yesterday, that includes the bounce that was there yesterday, it’s not quite as turbulent from what I saw. Having said that, it’s going to be hard to bat three sessions They are doing everything that they can so far with a good partnership between Sharma and Shubman Gill,” Ponting said.