Playing despite elbow injury undermined batting technique: Ricky Ponting

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has said that he had a ‘roller-coaster’ home summer season against West Indies and Pakistan, but also admitted that keeping on playing despite his elbow injury did undermine his batting technique.

The 34-year-old was injured during the Perth Test on December 24, after a brutal bouncer by West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach hit him on the elbow.

“While our catch-cry all summer has been consistency, my season has been a bit of a roller-coaster. Looking back, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to keep playing when I was injured after Kemar Roach hit me just above the left elbow during the Perth Test,” Ponting wrote in an article for the Australian.

“It knocked the wind out of my sails and out of my technique. I ended up changing the whole way I played to try to survive, really. I probably shouldn't have played the first and second Tests against Pakistan in Melbourne and Sydney, but as captain, that's what you feel you have to do,” he added.

He further said that he wanted to be part of the team and lead from the front, which played a crucial role in his decision to continue despite the injury.

“It was probably to my detriment as much as anyone else's that I kept playing the way I did. It was pretty obvious I wasn't functioning as well as I would have liked. I couldn't hit the ball off the front foot, so I was putting front-foot shots away and focusing on the back foot,” he said.

Ponting said he had worked hard with coach Tim Nielsen in ironing out some technical issues, that made him feel more comfortable at the crease.