PERTH, Jan 19: Australia captain Ricky Ponting said on Saturday his team weren’t pressing the panic button following their first Test loss in two years, but admitted they erred in team selection for the third Test against India.

India snatched a memorable win by 72 runs here after Australia plumped for four pacemen and went into the match without a specialist spinner for the first time in 16 years.

Ponting conceded the hosts misread the Perth pitch, which was not anywhere near as fast and bouncy as the pre-match speculation suggested.

“We probably misread the conditions leading into this game a bit,” he said. “Anyone who got out and had a look at the wicket leading up to the game might have thought it might have had a lot more pace and bounce in it than we did. We picked a team that we thought could win.”

Ponting revealed that veteran opener Matthew Hayden, who missed the third Test with a hamstring injury, was almost certain to be available for the fourth Test.—AFP