Melbourne, Dec 28: Ricky Ponting’s twin half-centuries in the Boxing Day Test have proved what the astute already knew: a batsman of his calibre was sure to spring back to form. Speaking to the media after the third day’s play, Ponting refused to hit back at the criticism directed towards him in recent times.

"I don't care what people from outside the dressing room are saying. If I feel like I've got some support inside the dressing room, then that's all that really matters to me,” Ponting said.

"As [for] staying away from negativity, I don't think I have to do that. I am prepared to read articles if they can help me become a better player," he explained.

Ponting walked out to bat on Boxing Day with a standing ovation and a roar of cheer from the 70,000 strong MCG crowd. The gesture and support of his countrymen wasn’t lost on him. "Right through the last few months, when things haven't been going the way I would have wanted, the support from the public has been outstanding,” he said.

While his 62-run knock in the first innings was marked by doggedness, the 60-run vigil in the second essay was more fluent and classy. It was also part of the match-turning partnership with Michael Hussey that got the hosts out of jail after four early setbacks.

While Ponting is glad to have gotten back to his scoring ways, he knows he lost a couple of opportunities to get a big score under his belt.

"It's nice to get a few runs. But when you get past 50 as a top-order batter, it's your job to go on and make big scores.

"I'm disappointed I haven't been able to do that in either innings of this game, particularly in the second innings when we were fighting our way back into a pretty strong position. When I got out, we lost a couple of wickets on top of that,” he said.

Australia still have a sheet anchor in Hussey, batting on 79. Ponting is hopeful that the left-hander will help the hosts to a challenging score.

“[Day 4] morning is going to be really crucial for us now. We need Mike Hussey now to go on and get a big score. We're 230 runs ahead now, which I think is a reasonable total for India to have to chase. Ideally, we'd like to make a few more runs than that," he said.

The going was tough for batsmen on Day 3 with India being able to add only 68 runs for their last seven wickets; Australia, on the other hand, lost eight men for 179 runs. Ponting credited the bowlers’ success to assistance from the track.

"There's just enough assistance for the bowlers if you bowl in the right areas for long enough. There's some thickish grass on the wicket. There's more pace and bounce for bowlers operating from the press box end.

"Most of our batters found it tough to get through the first half an hour of the innings. A couple of guys were probably a little bit unlucky. I think we have three chop-ons in our first four or five dismissals," he said, in defense of the batsmen.

The former skipper believes the Australian bowlers put up an improved show in the second innings as compared to the first essay. "Australia bowled a better line and length on Day 3 as compared to Day 2. We bowled exceptionally well this morning. [On Day 4] if we can start that way again with a newer ball, I'm sure we'll create some chances again.”

While Indian offspinner R Ashwin has proved to be a perfect foil to Zaheer Khan and co., Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon proved ineffective against the Indian batsmen. Ponting feels the Aussie tweaker would do well to learn the art of variation from the Indian offie.

"There's not a lot of assistance for spinners yet on the pitch. Ashwin has good change of pace and variation. Nathan can learn a little bit from that on just how he can apply his skills on that wicket in the second innings. With a bit more wear in that pitch, hopefully Nathan can contribute for us in the second innings,” he said.