Ricky Ponting's profile by CricketArchive

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Player:

RT Ponting

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DateLine: 3rd June 2008

 

Ricky Ponting made his first class debut for Tasmania at age 17 years and for Australia at age 20 against West Indies in 1995, and was very unlucky to be given out for 96 in his first Test. He is at home at the pivotal No 3 slot in both forms of the game and is a natural leader there. This doesn’t mean that he plays only defensive as he plays all the shots in the book and knows only how to attack. Plus he is a great asset on the field too, as he is a quick mover and an athletic fielder.

 

Ponting's growing maturity was taken into consideration by the ACB when he was selected to succeed Steve Waugh as Australian captain, first in the ODIs and then after the 2003-04 season, in the tests. Carrying forward Waugh’s legacy, he led the successful 2003 World Cup campaign from the front, plundering the Indian attack for 140 not out in the final.

 

However, a humiliating one-day loss to Bangladesh and the 2-1 Ashes loss, the first since Border’s team lost in 1987, meant that there were voices against his captaincy now. However, he is known to be a fighter and came back extremely well, by first demolishing the visiting English side 5-0 in the 2006-07 Ashes and then going on to lead Australia to their third successive world cup win.

 

Ponting’s batting is a joy to behold. He is only the third Aussie batsman after Don Bradman and Greg Chappell to score four double-centuries. Plus it is widely believed that he will end up establishing the highest run-scoring record in Tests when he retires. He scores an astonishing 1544 runs in 2005 and is behind only Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar in the number of Test hundreds scored.

 

He was successfully bided for by the Sourav Ganguly led Kolkata Knight Riders to play in the Indian Premier League.

 

Ponting went to the Caribbean and became the third Australian Allan Border and Steve Waugh to complete 10,000 runs in test match cricket and seventh player overall. Considering the fact that he still manages a average of 58 in test matches is a tribute to his greatness. He is one of the best number three in business. He celebrated it with a brilliant 158 in Jamaica and regained the Frank Worrell trophy beating the West Indies 2-0 and continuing their domination in world cricket.