Australian captain Michael Clarke believes Ricky Ponting is on the verge of breaking a two-year century drought in the second Test against India at the SCG starting on Tuesday.
The former skipper has not reached triple figures since he smashed a double hundred against Pakistan in January of 2010.
Ponting has made some recent half-centuries which continue to prolong his famed Test career, but only a ton will properly silence his critics who say the 37-year-old has reached his expiry date.
The Tasmanian played some vintage shots in his back-to-back 62 and 60 in the first Test against India at the MCG, before falling.
Clarke says Ponting is close to breaking the shackles.
"I think the way Punter is batting at the moment, he's not far away from a big one, that's for sure," said Clarke.
"One thing I know about him is if he gets to 100 he won't be stopping there.
"He's got a very good record at the SCG. I know he loves playing here at this wicket so it wouldn't surprise me at all if he walked out and made a 100 in this Test match."
Clarke said he does not believe the toss will be important in Sydney, but indicated he would likely bowl first if he gets the chance.
The captain believes the track will take a bit of time to turn into a genuine batting wicket.
"There's a tinge of green there. It's a little bit tacky at the moment, I think it's going to be quite tough to bat on day one.
"I think it's going to be quite a similar wicket to what we faced against England last year. I think there's going to be a bit of sideways movement early and I think it's going to turn out to be a really good batting wicket."
Australia has named an unchanged line-up for Sydney from its first-up 122-run win in Melbourne's Boxing Day Test.
Ryan Harris was left out of the XI, with spinner Nathan Lyon expected to play an important role as the match wears on.
AAP
Tags: sport, cricket, sydney-2000, nsw, australia, india First posted January 03, 2012 08:20:59
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