At his absolute best he's as good as anyone in the world: Ricky Ponting backs misfiring Starc

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Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has backed premier fast-bowler Mitchell Starc to make his presence felt for Australia during the ongoing four-match Test series against India, despite being criticised for his performances in the Adelaide Test. 

Ponting agreed that Starc had been largely ineffective in the second innings in comparison to the first, but refused to believe that his spot in the starting lineup was under threat. 

"He looked a long way off today compared to the first innings, I thought. I thought he started the game pretty well," he told cricket.com.au. 

"At his absolute best he's as good as anyone in the world. That's the thing; he's just got to find a way to get back to his absolute best. He's like a lot of players in this current team; they're under a bit of pressure, probably more pressure than they've ever been in their careers and they've got to find a way through it."

"It'll be interesting to see how he's progressing heading into the Perth Test," added Ponting. 

Australia need to score 219 runs on the fifth day of the Adelaide Test with six wickets in hand, after being handed a target of 323 runs by India.