Ricky Ponting opens up about the lowest points of his career

The Australian Cricket team of the late 1990s and the entirety of the 2000s was a mean-winning juggernaut that crushed everyone that came in its way. And, one of the many reasons behind that sustained dominance across formats was the fact that they were blessed with captains- who besides being a top-ranked cricketer, were hugely inspirational leaders.

From Alan Border to Mark Taylor to Steve Waugh and then Ricky Ponting, the baton was passed with seamless precision. Ricky Ponting took over the reins of the Australian ODI team after a disastrous 2001-02 summer that saw Steve Waugh get ousted from the white-ball scheme of things.

Ponting enjoyed unprecedented dominance as he captained Australia to back-to-back World Cup triumphs. But, the champion batsman did not enjoy the same record as a Test captain. Punter presided over three Ashes defeats as captain

The Aussie legend opened about his fair share of lows during his career, in a Sky Sports Podcast, where he termed the 2005 Ashes series defeat as one of the lowest points of his career.

“The first two (2005 and 2009) probably hurt more because we were expected to win more, certainly in 2005. Everyone in 2005 expected us to just come over here, whitewash them [England] again and come back with the Ashes. That didn’t happen that way.” Ponting was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda.

Ricky Ponting terms Ashes defeat at home as the lowest point of his career

While Ponting endured back-to-back Ashes defeats in England in 2005 and 2009, he also had to suffer the ignominy of being the first Australia captain to lose an Ashes series on home soil in the past 20 years, something Ponting admits, was the nadir of his storied career.

“Certainly, for me, the 2005 (Ashes) defeat was the hardest to cope with. But 2010-11, we were just completely outplayed,” he added.

England-led by Andrew Strauss pulled off a major heist in the summer of 2010-11 when they completely outplayed their Aussie counterparts to hand them a 1-3 mauling. That remains England’s Ashes win on Australian soil. Post that triumphant tour, England have lost nine of their last ten Tests Down Under, which also includes a 0-5 drubbing in 2013-14.