Australian skipper Ricky Ponting on Sunday asked his batsmen to take a leaf out of Sachin Tendulkar's masterclass at the SCG if they want to beat India in the second cricket tri-series finals in Brisbane on Tuesday.
"I would like our batsmen to take a look at how he (Tendulkar) built an innings. He had a few close shaves to start with but once he got through the new ball, he upped the tempo of his innings and controlled the game beautifully," said a subdued Ponting after his side's six-wicket defeat.
"Tendulkar sums up a game situation very well, that's something we would require our batsmen to do and go for big knocks when set."
Ponting said Tendulkar appeared to plan ahead of what his team was trying to do against him.
"He has some sort of plan what we are trying to do. We have to think one step ahead of him," he said.
Ponting also didn't lose sight of young Rohit Sharma, the other Indian batting star of the night.
"He played very well. He rotated the strike nicely and kept the scoreboard ticking over. He looks pretty calm and controlled. His stand with Tendulkar was one of the big moments of the game," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"He played very well. He rotated the strike nicely and kept the scoreboard ticking over. He looks pretty calm and controlled. His stand with Tendulkar was one of the big moments of the game," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Ponting conceded that the visitors had their nose in front of them and his team would have to lift themselves in all departments of the game in the next match at the Gabba.
"In that Melbourne game (on February 29) I thought we were switched off. We were too excited to plan for finals. But today, we didn't do a good job with bat, ball or in the field.
"We pride ourselves for doing well in big games, in finals, but it didn't happen today."