Indo-Australia will be a good contest: Ponting

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Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels that the year-end home series against India will not only be a keen contest but would also be a lot different as compared to when the Indian team plays any other opponent.

“I think they’re a lot different when they play us and (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni himself has made that pretty clear. He says he’s a walker against everybody except Australia. We’ll wait and see how they go out here,” Ponting told Daily Telegraph.

Ponting also believes that the contest against India, which is always one of the biggest and most volatile clashes, will be no different this time around as well.

“It will be a good contest. Every contest we’ve had against them for 10 years has been a good contest, whether it was Twenty20, One-day or a Test match, it’s been great cricket,” said Ponting.

Australia are currently touring Sri Lanka and it will be followed by a tour of South Africa and two Tests against New Zealand before the Indian series starts in Melbourne on Boxing Day.

Praising Dhoni’s gesture to recall Ian Bell during the second Test at Trent Bridge, when the Englishman walked off believing it was tea and was then run out, Ponting said he was impressed with Indian captain’s decision.

“From outside, Dhoni has always been pretty willing to play the right way. The right outcome has been met (with Bell’s recall), which is what you want to see in the game. That’s a good sign for international cricket,” Ponting said.

“Four years ago, there was a different captain and he had a fair bit to say about different things. I thought he was way out of line with some of the things that he said,” he added.

Last time India toured Australia in 2007-08, Anil Kumble was the captain of the Test team and after the “Sydneygate”, he had famously said that "one team had play the game in right spirit.”