Ricky Ponting reveals real ‘disgrace’ in India’s humiliating loss - and it’s not the batting

India’s batting was abysmal in Adelaide but Ricky Ponting had a bigger problem with another aspect of India’s game that beggared belief.

Ricky Ponting wants to see a major improvement.

India’s batting order was blown apart on Saturday but its problems extended far beyond how its players used the willow.

Australia secured an incredible eight-wicket win in the first Test in Adelaide after rolling the tourists for 36 on day three as Pat Cummins (four wickets) and Josh Hazlewood (five wickets) did all the damage.

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Speaking on The Unplayable Podcast for cricket.com.au, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting said the batsmen didn’t do too much wrong for many of the dismissals, and were instead outclassed by amazing bowling.

He added the visitors’ footwork needs to be more decisive and suggested changes will be made to the starting XI for the Boxing Day Test, but just as bad as the batting was India’s fielding in Australia’s first innings.

The home side was bowled out for 191 in reply to India’s first innings 244, so the visiting bowlers rightly received plenty of plaudits but their good work papered over a shocking performance in the field.

Australia’s top scorer Tim Paine (73 not out) was dropped at deep square leg from a straightforward chance before he’d passed 30, and second top scorer Marnus Labuschagne was put down three times before eventually falling for 47.

An early edge went through the slips, Jasprit Bumrah made a mess of a simple catch at fine leg and Prithvi Shaw put down an absolute dolly at mid-wicket as Labuschagne added vital runs in tough batting conditions.

Then Joe Burns hit the winning runs with a six — after the ball was parried over the rope from another shelled chance at deep square leg.

Had India been better in Australia’s first innings, Paine and Co. would have mustered far less than their 191 and Kohli’s men would have been even further ahead in the game taking to the crease for the second innings.

Ponting couldn’t believe how bad the fielding was.

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Virat Kohli had no answers to the Adelaide debacle.

“How bad’s their fielding been this game? The Indian outfielding has been disgraceful,” Ponting told The Unplayable Podcast.

“They’ll rue some of the chances from the first innings.

“Marnus put down three times early, Paine dropped early, so you can take probably 70-80 runs off Australia’s first innings if they held onto all their catches — then it might be a totally different game.”

Ponting predicted Shaw — who was bowled in both innings for zero and four — may face the axe and called for wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant to beef-up a batting group that will be without Kohli for the rest of the series as he heads home for the birth of his first child.

“We’ll learn a lot about them, won’t we?” Ponting said. “With Kohli not being there as well there’s almost no one to pick them back up after a loss like that.

“They’ve got to make a couple of changes. Rishabh Pant has to be in that middle order.

“They’ll look at Prithvi Shaw at the top of the order I’m sure, but there’s one thing to make selection changes there’s another to lift the spirits back up again and make sure they’re mentally right for the next challenge because the Australians are not going to go away now.

“Now they’re got a bit of a sniff they’re going to go even harder next game.”