Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting praised the batsman Marnus Labuschagne, who’s unbeaten 130 off 210 balls helped Australia put up a total of 283/3 at stumps on Day 1 of the Sydney Test. He further added that Labuschagne can be the captain of Australia in future.

“Paine hasn’t really got age on his side but he probably had one his best games for Australia last week in Melbourne,” Ponting told cricket.com.au when he was asked who would be Australia’s Test captain in a year’s time. “Travis Head is vice-captain now, Marnus Labuschagne is another one that will come into the conversation in 12-18 months’ time once he’s properly established himself in the team. He seems like the right sort of guy to maybe be a captain down the track at some point.”

“But 12 months down the track, I’ll give Painey at least another 12 months. Yes, he’s 35 but if you think of it in cricket terms he’s still relatively young. With all the cricket that he’s missed through his career with his finger issues, it’s not like his body has given up on him or getting little injuries – he’s as fit as anyone in that squad,” he added.

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However, Ricky Ponting praised Tim Paine and his captaincy as well.

“I think that’s the bottom line,” Ponting said. “Everyone knows what a great keeper is, if he keeps scoring runs and contributing to wins I give him at least 12 months. You’ve still got to keep yourself in the team. If you look at other teams around the world, that’s the way wicketkeeping has gone. You have to be able to contribute with the bat,” Ponting shared.

“If you don’t, the balance gets thrown out a little bit if you’ve got someone coming in at No.7 that’s like a tailender it doesn’t give you great balance. I think it’s important the keeper is scoring runs,” he concluded.​