Ricky Ponting the great - Batsman, Skipper and Sledger

Today we celebrate the birthday of one of the greatest captains of modern times and surely one of the greatest batsmen of modern era, Ricky Ponting. Ponting had a long and very fulfilling career with many milestones, ugly spats, and records to his name. He ended up playing 168 Tests, scoring 13,378 runs at an average of 51.85. He scored 41 centuries with the best of 257 to his name. In the ODI format, he played 375 ODIs with 13,704 runs and 30 centuries with the best of 164 runs. Let’s take a more detailed look in into the life of Punter (his nickname), the man who went onto become one of the greatest Australian captains and batsmen. 1. International debut and heartbreak: Ricky Ponting. (© Getty Images) Finally, he got his international break against New Zealand for the 1995 New Zealand Centenary Quadrangular tournament. His debut came against South Africa and he batted at no.6 and scored 1 run off 6 balls. He made his first 50 in ODI cricket against India in Dunedin making 62 off 92 balls in a losing cause. All throughout playing ODI cricket for Australia he was on the cusp of making his Test debut and that dream came true when he finally played his first Test against the Sri Lankans. He walked in at no.5 with Australia on 422/3. He played marvelously tackling the spin of Muralitharan and the guile of Vaas. But he encountered the heart break of falling short of a debut Test century, when he was trapped LBW by Chaminda Vaas on 96. Replays showed that the ball was going over the top of the wickets, but with not referrals at that time, Ponting walked back to the pavilion for 96. 2. 1996 World Cup and gets counted as one of the best fielders in cricket world: (Photo Source: Getty Images) Meanwhile he made his World Cup debut in the 1996 edition played in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Despite a lack luster start to the tournament, he made his first century in World Cup against the West Indies, scoring 102 runs. He made significant contributions to the team’s cause and barring a duck in the semi-finals, ended up with 229 runs in his first World Cup campaign. Australia lost to Sri Lanka in the finals played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. He was elevated to the no.3 position after the retirement of David Boon and scored his first Test century in the 1997 Ashes Test against England. His form in the subsequent series in India remained sketchy as he struggled to cope with the spin on Indian pitches, a trouble that remained with him throughout his career in Test cricket in India. The period from 1999-2002 saw Ponting being dropped repeatedly from the side, but luck gave him another chance when Mark Taylor retired in 1999 and Steve Waugh took over from Taylor. 3. 1999 World Cup and taking over from Steve Waugh (© Patrick Eagar Collection via Getty Images) Australia began their 1999 World Cup campaign in England with success over Scotland, but was soon defeated by New Zealand and Pakistan. But then started a streak of World Cup wins that only ended in the 2011 World Cup, when Australia was defeated by Pakistan. Ponting’s only big contribution came in the semifinal against South Africa, when he assisted Steve Waugh with 69 off 110 balls and made 126 runs in the partnership with his captain. Waugh scored 120 and took Australia to the finals. They won their second World Cup with ease in the finals, beating Pakistan and Ponting got the World Cup trophy in his hands. Next they toured Sri Lanka, where he scored his only Test century in Sri Lanka, a 105. He had a good run at home in the 6 Tests he played against Pakistan and India, scoring 197 against Pakistan and 125 against India and also went on to make 141 in the 3rd Test, completing a white wash for Australia. 2001 India series is something that Ponting will not want to remember at all. In the historic series, where Australia’s run of 16 straight Test wins was ended when India beat them in Kolkata thanks to VVS Laxman’s then record 281, coming back from following on. Ponting fell to the Harbhajan Singh in the series quite often and finished with just 17 runs from the 3 Test matches. Steve Waugh was dropped from the captaincy and ODI team after Australia failed to make it to the 2002 CB series finals and Pointing took over from him in the ODI format. 4. 2003 World Cup final: Ricky Ponting. (Photo Source: Zimbo) His biggest achievement as a captain came in the 2003 World Cup, when Australia remained unbeaten throughout the tournament to win the title. Australia beat India in the finals after scoring 359/2 with captain Ponting making a massive 140*. India could only muster 234 and lost by a record 125 runs in the World Cup final. Ponting made his highest Test score of 257 in the 3rd Test of the 2003 Test series against India, which followed his double hundred, a 242 in a lost cause in Adelaide in the second Test. Ponting ended up with 706 runs in the series. He was also named the fulltime Test captain following the retirement of Steve Waugh at the end of India series in 2004. 5. Ashes heartbreak and Champions Trophy win: Ricky Ponting. (© Getty Images) Ricky Ponting has had big success in Ashes series against England. He began with a century on debut in 1995. As a captain though, he holds a record that no other captain in Ashes wants to hold. He is the only Australian captain to lose three Ashes series. He played 35 Ashes Tests and scored 2476 runs with an average of 44.21 and highest score of 196. He scored 8 centuries in Ashes series. His Ashes record is pretty good to boast about as a batsman, but as a captain, it begs to differ. In his 100th Test, played against South Africa, he became the only batsman to score 2 centuries in his 100th Test. Ponting made 120 and 143 at SCG. Ponting won the only trophy that eluded Australia in form of the 2006 Champions Trophy, played in India. 6. Goodbye to captaincy: Ricky Ponting. (© Getty Images) He won the 2007 World Cup quite impressively in West Indies and become the second captain after Clive Lloyd to win back to back World Cups. He also completed 10,000 runs in ODIs at the 2007 World Cup. He had a relatively volatile series against India in 2008, with controversy shrouding Australia’s 2-1 win in the series. He was criticized for both his captaincy and his behavior as a player on field. In the second Test against the West Indies later that year, he became the 3rd Australian batsman to make 10,000 runs in Test cricket. In 2008 series against India in India, Ponting made his first century in Tests in India, making 123 at Bangalore. The period of 2008-2011 saw a sharp decline in his batting form. Australia’s defeat in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal in Ahmedabad, saw Ponting handing over the captaincy reigns to Michael Clarke, despite showing the desire to play on as a player. 8. Retirement: Ricky Ponting. (© Getty Images) Ponting saw another high as a player when he became the first Australian and 3rd batsman overall to make 13,000 Test runs. The feat came against India at Perth, when he scored 221, in a partnership of 386 with Michael Clarke who scored 329*. He announced his ODI retirement after being dropped from the 2011-12 Commonwealth series and his Test retirement after the WACA Test against South Africa. As a captain, Ponting led Australia in 77 Tests winning 48 and losing 16. He captained Australia in 227 ODIs and won 164 of them. Ponting’s highest ODI score of 164 came in a match that will be remembered by cricket fans of every age. Australia piled on 434 runs batting first against South Africa in the 5th deciding match of the series at Jo’burg in 2006. Ponting scored 164 runs, along with Mike Hussey’s 81. They became the first team to make 400 in an ODI, but soon became the first team to lose a match after scoring 400, since Herschelle Gibbs with his 175, Graeme Smith with his 90 and Mark Boucher with his 50* made sure that South Africa won an impossible match making 438/9 in the process. 9. Controversies: Ponting had his shares of controversies as well both as a player and as a captain. The most unforgettable ones are those in the 2008 Test against India at the MCG. There were several instances of unfair appeals for catches claimed by the Australians, including one from Ricky Ponting himself who took a catch at silly point and claimed it, despite replays showing the ball had touched the ground. Another controversy erupted when Sourav Ganguly was caught at slips by Michael Clarke, but the catch was not a clean one. But Pointing signaled to the umpire that Ganguly was out, since he was saying so, Umpire Benson took Ponting’s word and gave Ganguly out, but the replays showed that the catch was a bump catch. His biggest controversy came when Ponting was run out by a substitute Gary Pratt in an Ashes Test in 2005. He was upset with England using substitute fielders in giving rest to their fast bowlers and when he was run out by one, he had some choicest expletives for the English balcony as he made his way back to the pavilion. 10. Some records held by Punter: Ricky Ponting. (© Getty Images) You like him or not, Ponting is one of the modern greats and one of the best captains Australia has had. Here are some of the records held by Ponting: – Won two back to back World Cups as captain in 2003 and 2007. – Scored twin centuries in his 100th Test, only player to do so. – Only Australian to score 13,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs. – Holds the record for highest Test score in a defeat, 242 against India in Adelaide 2003. – Most Test centuries by an Australian- 41 – Passed 1,000 runs on 5 separate occasions in Test cricket in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2008 – Most catches by an Australian (non-keeper) – 191 – Scored twin hundred in a Test 3 times, record equaled with Sunil Gavaskar. – First batsman to score 1,000 runs at 4 different grounds (Adelaide Oval, the Gabba, MCG and SCG). – First player to be involved in 100 Test victories. – Most centuries in World Cup, tied with Sachin Tendulkar, Mark Waugh and Sourav Ganguly. – Most victories as ODI captain- 165 – Undefeated captain in World Cups (35 matches) – Second captain to lose 3 Ashes Series, tied with Billy Murdoch

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Ricky Ponting the great - Batsman, Skipper and Sledger

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