Prithvi Shaw in place of Vijay or Rahul? Ponting answers

Ponting feels there is ample time before the third Test and Shaw should regain his fitness by then. "I saw him (Shaw) out in the outfield today hitting a few balls, starting to look like he's getting around a bit better and with 10 days to go before the next Test you'd think he'll come back in. 

Murali Vijay and KL Rahul’s unimpressive show in the first two Test matches in Australia has made Prithvi Shaw’s return to the playing XI only a matter of time. And former Australian captain Ricky Ponting feels it should be in place of Murali Vijay.

Shaw is racing against time to regain fitness for the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne. He was ruled out of the first two Test matches after twisting his ankle in India’s only practice game prior to the series against Cricket Australia XI. However, Shaw’s recovery has been faster than usual and he was even spotted going through light physical drills in Perth on Saturday

The attacking batsman was the first-choice to partner KL Rahul and Vijay’s torrid time in the first two tests has only confirmed it.

"I think it's got to be Murali Vijay who goes," Ponting told cricket.com.au. "It was probably a bit of a bat-off coming into the series between those two.”

Ponting feels there is ample time before the third Test and Shaw should regain his fitness by then. "I saw him (Shaw) out in the outfield today hitting a few balls, starting to look like he's getting around a bit better and with 10 days to go before the next Test you'd think he'll come back in. 

"So I think it's got to be Vijay that goes out."

Vijay was dropped from the squad after the first two Test matches in England but his outstanding show on a maiden county season with Essex saw get the third opener’s spot in Australia.

However, the 35-year-old has done little with the opportunity he got because of Shaw’s injury. With scores of 11, 18 and a zero, Vijay has been one of the least impressive Indian batsman on display.

His opening partner, Rahul, is not far behind. Rahul has posted scores of two, 44 and two in three innings this series. But with age on his side, Rahul is set to receive the team management’s backing for the remainder of the series. The same cannot be said about Vijay.

Keeping the criticism aside, Ponting attributed the Indian openers' failure to the brilliance of Australia's new ball bowlers, Mitchell Starc in particular.

"He's a classy looking player and to be honest, it's actually been quite hard for the openers in both Adelaide and Perth – difficult places to start," he said. "Give credit to Starc for the way he's bowled to him, but I think Prithvi Shaw comes straight back in."