Perth, Jan 12: Senior Australian batsman Ricky Ponting shot back at Zaheer Khan for finding fault with his batting rhythm, saying what the Indian pace spearhead has said about him can also be said about the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.
"What Zaheer has said, the same thing could be said about Sachin, (Jacques) Kallis or Dravid who have been consistent run-scorers. I`ve worked hard at my game in the last few months and made progress last year and got good scores on the board," Ponting said.
Zaheer had stated that Ponting doesn`t look his old self anymore and even called the former Australian captain a "grinder".
"I`m not worried about Zaheer or anyone else. I know what I need to do and leave an impact I want to for Australia," Was Ponting`s retort at the press conference on Wednesday.
The war of words has escalated between the two teams in the last few days with Brad Haddin terming Indians a fragile team which elicited a sharp response from Zaheer on Tuesday.
Ponting clarified that Haddin`s comments meant that "we create a lot of pressure with the way we bowl."
"As a fast bowling group, right through the series, we have been able to build pressure from both ends. It`s like any opposition team you plan. You need to bowl well and dictate and put pressure to take wickets," he said.
"I haven`t seen what`s written or said over the last few months. There`s a lot of distractions going around. Our clear focus is on our skills and putting it in practice.”
"I try to be in my own zone, try to focus on next ball. I don`t think any one of us is worried about what Indians are doing. It`s all about we trying to improve our cricket and win every contest by way of Test," he added.
"We are happy with what we are at the moment but we are not yet there. Our focus is to make sure how best we can be for this Test and keep India under pressure a little longer."
