Taylor comes in defence of Ponting on slow over-rates in India

Melbourne, Nov 13 (UNI) Former captain Mark Taylor has come in support of under-fire Ricky Ponting for his 0-2 loss to India and said the over-rate issue, that the skipper faced in the last Test, is a universal problem and Ponting was no exception.

''It's Test cricket's big problem and it's every captain's problem, not just Ricky. It's stifling Test cricket and slowing it down and it needs addressing collectively, not just one individual,'' Taylor was quoted as saying by the 'Daily Telegraph'.

Taylor urged that all the Test playing nations to come forward and take the responsibilty for the slow over-rate issue.

''This is nothing new and it's been a real issue for years but it's got progressively worse to the point where every skipper around the world must make a stand to do something about it,'' he said.

Taylor further added that there was no need of pressing the panic button just becuase the Australians had lost the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Taylor comments came in the light of former Australian skipper's call in which he has demand to issue a new blueprint via a mid 1980s-like watershed think-tank, following the series loss in India.

Taylor further added that Cricket Australia has always been reviewing team performance and there was no need for a blueprint now.

''I respect Greg is entitled to an opinion but I don't agree on this one as we are constantly looking at ways to improve performance on and off the field. After we lost the 2005 Ashes series, we put processes in place to get us back on track,'' he added.

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