October 05, 2008	Sunday	Shawwal 05, 1429

MELBOURNE, Oct 4: Ricky Ponting and his teammates in India would not admit it but for their former coach John Buchanan, Australians are no longer invincible.

Buchanan said the current Australian team isn’t as dominating as their predecessors of the recent past, and thinks they lacked the aura of the teams which had the likes of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist in it.

“I agree that the aura has somewhat been diminished by India’s performance in Australia earlier this year. And that’s why both teams will be a little bit uncertain of each other,” Buchanan said.

“This Australian side is different. There is no question about that. For this team, consistency will be defined by how it relates against other Aussie sides previously,” he said.

Buchanan would not, however, just dismiss Ponting’s men as vulnerable and said on the contrary they were a hugely confident side.

“This team is definitely not vulnerable. It’s quite the opposite. Teams that go into a series thinking they are invincible and unbeatable are the ones that are vulnerable.

“The Australians are not going into this series as invincibles, but they do have the belief.”

The Kolkata Knight Riders coach also expects Ponting, who has a poor record in India, to play a key role in the forthcoming Test series against India.

“Ricky Ponting will remain the key. He is a determined man and has an unshakeable confidence, which will bring out the best from his team-mates.”—Agencies