Ricky Ponting's defence was not the greatest, says Harbhajan Singh

Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh opened up about his on-field battles with Ricky Ponting. The Australian batter was dismissed a record ten times in Test cricket by Harbhajan Singh. Both cricketers enjoyed playing against each other but it was Harbhajan Singh who had the last laugh more often than not. The former Indian cricketer recalled his memories of playing against Ricky Ponting in a chat with retired fast-bowler Brett Lee.

During a podcast with Brett Lee, Harbhajan Singh said, "There is no doubt about how great or big a player he was, and whenever he played the game, he wanted to dominate. But what I found as a bowler – it could be just me talking about it or what I felt – bowling against Pointing was that he had very hard hands against defending the ball".

He added, "So that's what made him vulnerable. His defence was not the greatest. He used to defend with very hard hands. So that's what made him vulnerable. My bounce was something he could not play as well as the other bowlers."

The retired Indian off-spinner went on to add that he still rates Ricky Ponting as one of the very best that he has ever played against in international cricket. 

"Maybe I am lucky that I was able to get him out 11-12 times in Test cricket. But yes, it doesn't make him a lesser player. He is still a top player and if I have to pick my top five guys who dominated world cricket in terms of batting, I would definitely have Ricky Ponting in that list" Harbhajan Singh concluded.