After thrashing by India, Ricky Ponting says Australia team will be 'richer in experience'

Former captain Ricky Ponting says he himself failed repeatedly before learning to perform in India and the bunch of Australian cricketers playing there will be able to handle the conditions better next time.

As Australia stare at a 4-0 whitewash, Ponting said it was always going to be a "tough tour" for them.

"I found the first three of four tours I went there I couldn't score a run. It wasn't until a few tours down the track that I started learning about playing spin bowling and coping with the conditions that I started to work it out," Ponting said.

"Those guys on that tour will be a whole lot better off next time they go there and are confronted with conditions like that. We'll keep our fingers crossed and hopefully they can finish on a winning note this week," Ponting, one of the most successful captains of his country, told 'The Australian'.

Ponting scored his first half-century on his second tour of India and his first century on his fifth tour after 15 attempts.

Ponting defended coach Mickey Arthur and captain Michael Clarke, who are under fire for poor show and axing four players on disciplinary ground.

"You always come under pressure when you are not winning, no matter what your role. By the same token, when you win a game you are the one that gets the pat on the back, and that's the way you have got to look at it. They have both been round the block a few times.

"Mickey's coached a lot of winning teams and teams that haven't always won. He will know how to bounce back. Michael's played around 90 Test matches now and over the last few years he has had his ups and downs with teams. . "As long as they bounce back this week and finish well – I actually thought they bounced back last week and finished the game well," he said.

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