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Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting slammed Joe Root for his comments about England's bowlers and questioned his captaincy after their second defeat in Ashes.

England were thrashed by 275 runs in the day-night Test in Adelaide, following which Root asserted that the bowlers need to pitch the ball fuller and put up a more valiant show.

"I nearly fell off my seat when I heard that. Whose job is it then to make them change? Why are you captain then? If you can't influence your bowlers on what length to bowl, what are you doing on the field?," Ponting told a Cricket Australia website.

"Joe Root can come back and say whatever he likes but if you're captain, you've got to be able to sense when your bowlers aren't bowling where you want them to. That's what captaincy is all about," he added.

Ponting also said that England's bowling attack was at its best when Root left the field due to a groin injury and the captaincy was passed over to Ben Stokes.

"The interesting thing for me is the only time they bowled full in the game was when Joe Root wasn't on the ground," Ponting said.

"The start of day four when they had a meeting on the ground before play started, Stokes took over the captaincy, and that was the only time in the game they pitched the ball up," he added.