Yes ninja man
since ponting became captain his batting especially in tests improved a lot
and i am expecting him to score more test centuries in the near future as well(even bettering sachin is not impossible)
during the south africa series he gone with second rated bowlers still he did not scribe for not having gillespie or mcgrath
what i am trying to say is,lara is a too good a player to ask for excuses like he did during india series