Former Australia captain Mark Taylor has backed Ricky Ponting to emerge from the current batting slump.

Taylor almost lost his spot in the Australian XI for the 1997 Ashes tour of England after going 21 innings without a half-century - the media relentlessly calling for his axing.

But he scored 129 in the second innings of the first Test as Australia went on to win the series 3-2, salvaging his career in the process.

His successor Steve Waugh underwent similarly tough times and was close to being dumped before carving out an unforgettable century against England at the SCG in the fifth Test of the 2002/03 series.

Taylor remembers the difficulty of balancing the captaincy while enduring a run of disappointments with the bat, but believes Ponting's form dip is far from crisis point.

The veteran number three has racked up just one ton in his last 18 Test innings, his average over that period drifting in the early 40s.

"Ricky's so-called lean period is nowhere near as bad as mine," Taylor said.

"He's not in anywhere near the form slump that I was in. He's on easy street at the moment.

"Ricky's still going okay. He's probably not the player he was five years ago but he's still a very fine batsman.

"As Steve Waugh showed five or six years ago, he (Ponting) is the sort of player who can make a hundred when it's really needed.

"I would not be ruling Ricky Ponting out at this stage."

But Taylor conceded Ponting would come under increasing pressure if he failed with the bat on the forthcoming tour of India.

"It's very tough, there's no doubt," Taylor said.

"You're doing this sort of thing every day (fronting the media); you're answering questions every day.

"When you're not the captain you can distance yourself, to a certain extent, away from the media.

"As captain you are dealing with the media all the time and you have to answer the (form) question all the time.

"That will be the hard thing for Ricky."