Ponting seeks to play India series in right spirit

Ponting said he was determined to address his own poor record in India, having scored only one 50 in 14 Test innings there and averaging just 12 as opposed to his career mark of 58.
"I've had a couple of disappointing Test series (in India). In 2001, I made next to no runs," Ponting said."The last series over there that we won, I broke my thumb and missed the first three Tests and came back for the last one, and that was the only one we lost."It's certainly a void in my cricket resume in India and I'm obviously hoping to rectify that over the next six or seven weeks."
Ponting said the series represented a great challenge for Australia's cricketers.
"There's no doubt they (India) have got a lot more experience than we have going into this series," he said."But I think we made too much of the conditions in India a lot of the time before we get there."I think quite often the less that you talk about it and the more you just get to understand it, the people and the conditions, the better off you are over there."
Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said substantial planning had gone into the Indian series."The tour of India is an icon series for the Australian team and the selection process has been a highly detailed exercise," Hilditch said."A lot of planning has gone in to how we want to play against the Indian team and how we go about that in Indian conditions."
Australia's opening Test against India starts in Bangalore on October 9.