It's more than ruthless now, says Ponting on Old Trafford T20I series decider

New Delhi : Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes the upcoming Men’s T20I series decider at Old Trafford on Sunday will be an extremely intense affair, following England’s three-wicket victory in the second T20I held in Cardiff making scoreline stand at 1-1.

"It's more than ruthless now, it's 1-1 and it's Australia against England. I don't care what game it is, you want to win the series. Thinking about the sides, Archer comes back into mine and (Reece) Topley is probably the one that has to go."

"He's been a staple in that side for such a long time but with Carse being impressive maybe Topley has to go. Australia definitely have to bring Hazlewood back in, they can't get him back him quick enough, and there's two full-strength games in game three. Let's see who comes out on top," said Ponting on Sky Sports Cricket.

Hazelwood was rested from the second T20I for Australia, which also saw Mitchell Marsh miss out due to illness. Archer too was rested by England, with Brydon Carse taking 2-21 at Cardiff. With the series to be decided in Old Trafford, former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara opined which players will be fit for Sunday’s game, especially with Australia short on options due to injuries to their pace-bowling unit.

"There's a series to win and I think it's really important that they play the game as is. They might have a few injury concerns and might want to rest a few players due to that but with the series on the line and a lot being talked about your best players representing your country.”

“I mean there's the T20 Blast Final on Saturday and you don't have many of the England stars participating in such an important final, so if they are being held back to play, I would sincerely hope that the best team is put out. That's what the players deserve, it's what the game deserves, the crowd deserves.”

"You can have all your planning and resting and rotation but the quality of the side can't be undermined. That's the whole point of having depth in your squad and the way England and Australia go about selecting their side, they have enough depth to put out their best sides," he concluded.