Australia’s top-order batting came under the scanner when it failed to inspire another strong start during the second Test match against Bangladesh at Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay. On a day that made headlines for fast-bowling spells from Mitchell Starc and Shoriful Islam, the Australian top-order batters once again came in the firing line despite taking a 101-run lead. However, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting asked to drop Marnus Labuschagne following yet another poor performance

“I admire what they’re (selectors) trying to do to get him back to his best,” Ponting said on Seven of Labuschagne. “But it’s been way too long now. I would have made the change at the start of this series.”

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“There’s some technical deficiency there, but he’s making the margin for error for the bowlers too great. He can’t score off the back foot, and if you can’t score off the back foot in Test cricket, batting becomes a hard game. Bowlers now know they can bowl anywhere from 10 metres to four metres on off stump and as wide as they want, and he can’t hurt them. It’s well and truly time to have a look at somebody else,” he again shared.

Ricky Ponting had earlier asked about adding youngsters into the top-batting order after Australia’s disastrous loss to the Tigers in the first Test in Darwin as well. Ponting said that he would be the last one to call for a change as well.

“Look, I’m the last one I want to make a change. As a captain or as a player, I wanted to keep the group together. It has to get to a bad point before I start saying you ought to leave somebody out. But there had been enough evidence for me coming here to suggest that they weren’t going to lose anything or much at all by starting that regeneration, by maybe bringing in another opener, by maybe bringing in someone at No.3. I think that that has to happen,” he stated again in Channel 7 earlier.