Australia captain Ricky Ponting reiterated on Monday that the recently concluded Champions League had taken a toll on the national side’s preparations for this tour.

During his opening press conference on this tour, Ponting was asked to comment on the two Aussie teams reaching the Champions League semi-finals, and he had said that while there were positives to be taken, it had a negative side as well. “The players will be acclimatised, but it would also mean that the team will not be able to plan as a group.”

Ahead of the second ODI, he seemed to focus only on the negatives. “We had three players fly in and get to the hotel at 8.30pm Saturday night and we’re leaving the hotel at 7am on match morning. There was not much time for us to get our team tactics in order. We had a team meeting after training and those blokes were not even here,” Ponting was quoted as saying by an Australian news agency.

The visitors won the first match of the seven-match series in Vadodara on Saturday but looked lacklustre while defending a big total and, despite dominating the game for most parts, allowed India to come within four runs of the target. Pace spearhead Brett Lee, who was part of the NSW team that lifted the T20 title, could bowl only six overs of his quota because of a sore elbow.

On Monday, the Australian team management confirmed that Lee, along with Mitchell Johnson, were doubtful starters for the second one-dayer in Nagpur, while all-rounder James Hopes has been ruled out. Johnson had twisted an ankle while fielding in Vadodara, while Hopes picked up a hamstring injury.

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