“He’ll get 100 this time around”- Ricky Ponting backs Joe Root to score maiden Ashes hundred in Australia

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes Joe Root has a good chance of breaking his century drought in Australia during the current Ashes series.

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Root, an England veteran, has accomplished practically everything in Test cricket; nonetheless, he has yet to score a Test century in Australia.

The cricket world is humming with anticipation as Australia hosts England in the highly anticipated five-match Ashes series, which begins on November 21. This series will have a considerable impact on the ICC World Test Championship standings, making it an important milestone in the current cycle.

England last won a Test series in Australia in 2010-11, and Australia has held on to the Ashes urn since 2018.

Ricky Ponting backs Joe Root to score his maiden Test hundred in Australia in the upcoming Ashes

Root has never scored a century in Australia, even though he has had a scorching run in Test cricket this decade and is the second-highest run-scorer in the format with 13,543 runs and 39 hundreds. Root's legacy may be greatly enhanced by winning an Ashes series and a Test ton in Australia.

In addition to being winless in his 14 prior Test matches against the Australians, Root has not scored as much as he would have liked. In 14 games and 27 innings, he has produced nine half-centuries at an average of 35.68.

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Joe Root has been in a purple patch with the bat, and seeing his form, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has backed him to score a maiden hundred in an Ashes Test in Australia.

"That's what it is, a mental thing for him this series more than anything else. His game is magnificent at the moment. He's got to get over that little mental hurdle and get 100. And I actually think he will get that 100 this time around.

I think he's better equipped now as a player than ever. Other times he's come here to Australia, he's had one or two little technical issues that, on the extra bouncy wickets, the Australian fast bowlers have been able to exploit," Ponting said on the ICC review show.

"And I have watched the way that he's played over the last 12 or 18 months; it looks like he's worked really hard on taking those motive dismissals out of play. But you also know that little man that sits on your shoulder; he keeps telling you, You haven't done well here in the past, and you haven't got 100 here," he added.

With his best score being 89 and having three scores in the 80s, the veteran has been unlucky to miss out on the milestone in some of the toughest conditions to bat in.

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