Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has slammed Root who blamed his bowlers for failing to bowl the right lengths in Adelaide.

Joe Root’s England are on a horrendous run in the ongoing Ashes Down Under. The visitors are reeling 0-2 in the five-match series after losing the first two games by bigger margins. Australia defeated England by 9 wickets in Brisbane and then thumped the visitors again by a 275 in Adelaide. With three more games to go, it would be a herculean task for the Englishmen to bounce back in the series.

Meanwhile, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has slammed Root who blamed his bowlers for failing to bowl the right lengths in Adelaide. The England captain stated that the bowlers were required to bowl at fuller lengths which they couldn’t do consistently, especially in the first innings.

Speaking with cricket.com.au, Ponting reacted to Root’s comment and said, “I nearly fell off my seat when I heard that.”

“Whose job is it then to make them change? Why are you captain then? If you can’t influence your bowlers on what length to bowl, what are you doing on the field?

“Joe Root can come back and say whatever he likes but if you’re captain, you’ve got to be able to sense when your bowlers aren’t bowling where you want them to. And if they’re not going to listen, you take them off, simple as that. Give someone else a chance that is going to do it for you. Or you have a really strong conversation with them on the field to tell them what you need. That’s what captaincy is all about,” he added.

Ponting further highlighted a weird fact that the only time England bowled full during the second Test was when Root was not on the ground due to a groin injury. In his absence, Ben Stokes led the side.

“The interesting thing for me is the only time they bowled full in the game was when Joe Root wasn’t on the ground. At the start of day four when they had a meeting on the ground before play started, Ben Stokes took over the captaincy, and that was the only time in the game they pitched the ball up,” Ponting concluded.