So Ricky Ponting has called time on his 17 year old Test career in 2012 based on "tentative" manner of dismissals in first 2 Tests. And Perth test shall be his last. He had already called time upon the ODI career and with him retiring the successful era of Australian dominance shall come to an end. He was the last pole of the dominating Aussies who ruled the world in 1990s and 2000s. He was a very successful captain who basically carried on the legacy of Steve Waugh in 2004 and struggled after 2007 Ashes when the greats retired one by one. And those defeats put him in a very ordinary light -- some one not been able to turn the things around with men of ordinary capability. When he was the captain and had the awesome men like Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Matty Hayden, Jus Langer and of course Glenn McGrath, the results spoke for themselves and post 2008 when all of the above men were gone, the results show a downward spiral.
Later on his form dwindled and every test series he played was speculated to be his last. But Indians revived him last summer as they have done to so many failing batsmen and suddenly Ponting talked about the back to back Ashes prospects next year. But he was done in by series of ordinary scores in the ongoing series vs South Africans. In a series when Australians have maintained a noose over the # 1 team in the world and all batsmen around him were getting huge scores, Ponting struggled. And thats when he determined he was not contributing enough that led to this decision.
The world cricket in 2012 especially the Test cricket will be very poor with 3 of the most illustrious men retired -- Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman from India and now Ricky Ponting from Australia. Not to mention that Andrew Strauss from England had also called time earlier this year, but he might not be in the league of this 3 men. And again in near foreseeable future Sachin Tendulkar might call it time as well. The Test cricket will be poorest in years then. As an Indian fan, I hated Ponting make runs in Australia against India, but there were few sights of pleasure also watching him bat against other teams. Indian fans despise him, they hate him, a lot of frentic fans rejoiced on facebook when they saw the news of Ponting retirement. Ponting has had a formidable record in Tests and ODIs. And like the contemporaries he did not excel in T20Is and very soon he retired from that format.
He has had 2nd highest ODI centuries and 2nd highest ODI runs as in Tests after Tendulkar. But what he has is something no other player in history has. 2 World cup wins back to back as a captain, 3 overall. 2 Champions Trophy wins when the Aussies struggled in this trophy till 2006. Ponting led Australia in 3 world cups, won 2 and lost in the quarters of the last one. Under him Australia won 34 World cup games in row and this looks to be a record which will never be broken.
Ponting is hailed as 2nd best Australian batsman only after Don Bradman. He scored runs in all conditions against all countries. He struggled against India in India especially against Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble. But in return series in 2003, 2011 he made tons of runs against Indians. He scored against South Africa, England, Kiwis, West Indies and of course Lankans. But again he was the only captain to lose 3 Ashes (2005, 2009 and 2010-11). Something he was very keen to improve, but his scoring dried and off he went.
He was not a very good sportsmen as often he claimed the catches that were not, he appealed when the dismissals looked dodgy, pressurized umpires, had a short temper. Who can forget that 1998 Sharjah tourney when he was hurt by Javagal Srinath bouncer and he rudely sent back the bowler when out of courtesy, Srinath went to check if he was fine. He had tussles with Zaheer Khan, Sourav Ganguly and of course Harbhajan Singh. The 2008 series in Australia was one of the worst in terms of "spirit of cricket" which led Anil Kumble to famously quote "Only one team was playing in the spirit of the game".
All said and done, despite his shortcomings as a captain and a person on the field, Ricky Ponting will be a cricketing legend with formidable record in Tests and ODIs. And he shall be missed.
Thank You Ricky Ponting for all of your cricketing memories. And I must confess when he was in his prime, I so very wished his form fell so that Tendulkar's records remain intact and now they will.
Later on his form dwindled and every test series he played was speculated to be his last. But Indians revived him last summer as they have done to so many failing batsmen and suddenly Ponting talked about the back to back Ashes prospects next year. But he was done in by series of ordinary scores in the ongoing series vs South Africans. In a series when Australians have maintained a noose over the # 1 team in the world and all batsmen around him were getting huge scores, Ponting struggled. And thats when he determined he was not contributing enough that led to this decision.
The world cricket in 2012 especially the Test cricket will be very poor with 3 of the most illustrious men retired -- Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman from India and now Ricky Ponting from Australia. Not to mention that Andrew Strauss from England had also called time earlier this year, but he might not be in the league of this 3 men. And again in near foreseeable future Sachin Tendulkar might call it time as well. The Test cricket will be poorest in years then. As an Indian fan, I hated Ponting make runs in Australia against India, but there were few sights of pleasure also watching him bat against other teams. Indian fans despise him, they hate him, a lot of frentic fans rejoiced on facebook when they saw the news of Ponting retirement. Ponting has had a formidable record in Tests and ODIs. And like the contemporaries he did not excel in T20Is and very soon he retired from that format.
He has had 2nd highest ODI centuries and 2nd highest ODI runs as in Tests after Tendulkar. But what he has is something no other player in history has. 2 World cup wins back to back as a captain, 3 overall. 2 Champions Trophy wins when the Aussies struggled in this trophy till 2006. Ponting led Australia in 3 world cups, won 2 and lost in the quarters of the last one. Under him Australia won 34 World cup games in row and this looks to be a record which will never be broken.
Ponting is hailed as 2nd best Australian batsman only after Don Bradman. He scored runs in all conditions against all countries. He struggled against India in India especially against Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble. But in return series in 2003, 2011 he made tons of runs against Indians. He scored against South Africa, England, Kiwis, West Indies and of course Lankans. But again he was the only captain to lose 3 Ashes (2005, 2009 and 2010-11). Something he was very keen to improve, but his scoring dried and off he went.
He was not a very good sportsmen as often he claimed the catches that were not, he appealed when the dismissals looked dodgy, pressurized umpires, had a short temper. Who can forget that 1998 Sharjah tourney when he was hurt by Javagal Srinath bouncer and he rudely sent back the bowler when out of courtesy, Srinath went to check if he was fine. He had tussles with Zaheer Khan, Sourav Ganguly and of course Harbhajan Singh. The 2008 series in Australia was one of the worst in terms of "spirit of cricket" which led Anil Kumble to famously quote "Only one team was playing in the spirit of the game".
All said and done, despite his shortcomings as a captain and a person on the field, Ricky Ponting will be a cricketing legend with formidable record in Tests and ODIs. And he shall be missed.
Thank You Ricky Ponting for all of your cricketing memories. And I must confess when he was in his prime, I so very wished his form fell so that Tendulkar's records remain intact and now they will.
