Perth, Dec. 19 (ANI): Australian skipper Ricky Ponting is a doubtful starter for the forthcoming Boxing Day Test against Pakistan in Melbourne as team physiotherapist, Alex Kountouris has described his injured arm as ‘meat bashed with a mallet’.

Though X-rays of Ponting’s injured arm confirmed that there is no fracture, the MRI scan of the hand, which was rattled by a ferocious delivery of West Indies paceman Kemar Roach, showed some serious tendon damage.

“He’s in doubt for Melbourne, there’s no doubt about it because his arm has been quite sore. It’s almost like when you get meat and bash it with a mallet to soften it down, that’s what happened,” The Dawn quoted Kountouris, as saying.

“The fibres have been squashed and disrupted in the tendon. Now every time he uses that muscle he gets a little tearing of the muscle fibres, that’s the potential,” he explained further.

Despite the injury, Ponting took the field against West Indies after his side suffered a stunning collapse losing seven wickets for just 68 runs. Batting at number nine, he, however, failed to change the fate of the scorecard and was caught at short-leg of a Roach bouncer.

Kountouris said he had asked Ponting not to take the risk of batting again after sustaining the nasty injury, but he declined.

He hoped that the decision would not affect the skipper’s future assignment, but added that the wound could take time to heal.

“I was telling him not to bat all day but with the situation as it was he decided to bat.I’m hoping not but it can be. It’s in the tendon but that’s a possibility. But I don’t think that’s going to happen, I think it will settle down with time,” Kountouris said.

Meanwhile, West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has said that his team’s speedster targeted Ponting with the short ball, knowing that he was in pain.”When he came out to bat we knew he was carrying an injury, that’s the reason why he batted low down the order,” said Bravo, who along with Roach sprayed numerous short balls on the Australian veteran.

“Once I bowled my first ball I realised he was still in pain, so then if he’s not comfortable batting we should try to force him to do something he doesn’t want to do,” Bravo said. (ANI)