Skipper Ricky Ponting defended himself Monday against claims that he put himself above Australia's pursuit of victory against India, saying the criticism was out of line. Former Australia captain Allan Border was among the leading critics of Ponting's decision Sunday to try and boost the over-rate of his bowlers rather than go after quick wickets to finish off a floundering Indian innings. India recovered late on the fourth day and, after setting Australia an unlikely 382 to win the fourth Test, won the match by 172 runs Monday and regained the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2-0. “The thing I'm most disappointed about is there seems to be this inference out there that I've put myself totally ahead of the team,” said Ponting, who risked a ban if Australia had gone too far beyond the required over-rate. “Anybody that knows me, or knows the way I play my cricket or operate around the Australian team - or any team - would hopefully not say that's the case. “I'd like to think as far as team players go, that there haven't been many more that have ever played for Australia that would do more than I have for the team.” Ponting said he had an obligation “to play the game in the right spirit” and try to bowl 90 overs in a day. “We speak about it at every team meeting,” he said. “I've told the bowlers, the whole team, for a couple of years now that if we keep going the way we are there's going to be some time or moment where it's really going to come back and hurt us. “I'm not saying that's right now, but there have been other times where we've had to do that.” Ponting's tactics saved him from a possible suspension for next week's first Test against New Zealand, but eased the pressure for the batsmen after India had slipped to 166-6. India quickly increased its lead from 252 to 381. That frustrated Border and he said during the television commentary: “I'm glad Ricky can't read my mind right now, because he's not going to like it.” “To tell you the truth, I'm a little bit disappointed with some of the criticism, particularly from former Australian captains and CA board members,” Ponting said. “I had Jason Krejza bowling at one end, who ended up taking 12 wickets in the game, and Cameron White - he'd been the No. 1-picked spinner in the first three Test matches - operating from the other end for a couple of overs. “That didn't work out the way I'd have liked, Michael Clarke was the next choice, but he'd been off the field ill and couldn't bowl until 3.10 P.M. And in the situation we were nine overs down.” If a team is six overs behind schedule the captain faces the possibility of a suspension. The team was eventually fined Monday for slow over-rate. - AP __
