Ricky Ponting, former Australia skipper, has rated South African pacer Vernon Philander as the hardest he ever faced in challenging situations.
“He is probably the hardest I faced in world cricket with those ty bowlerpe of conditions because you don’t get any visual clues with the swinging ball,” Ponting told BT Sport.
Ponting’s comments have come after Philander ran over the Australian batting line-up, dismissing them on a paltry total of 85. The seamer showed his dominance over Australian team right from the word go, getting the wicket of David Warner in the first over of the game. He continued his superlative act and ended with figures of 21/5 in just 61 balls.
“Most other guys when there’s movement, the ball actually swings in the air first and you have some sort of idea of which way the ball is going to go.
“We saw a couple of replays today; the release was exactly the same on two balls in a row, they landed in almost exactly the same spot, one seamed away and the other one seemed in. He’s just a class act when the ball is seaming” Ponting added
Ricky Ponting played against Vernon Philander four Tests in which Philander dismissed Ponting twice. On both the occasions, Ponting was trapped in front of stumps.