Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting was the captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 for Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 for One Day International cricket. In Australian domestic cricket he plays with the Tasmanian Tigers and is also famous in Indian Premier League for his association with the Kolkata Knight Riders. He remains Australia’s most successful captain of all time and for his excellent abilities as a batsman he is regarded as one of the finest players of all time.
Ponting was promoted as the captain after the dropping of Steve Waugh from the one-day team in February 2002 by the selectors. He was given a chance ahead of then vice-captain Adam Gilchrist. Under his captaincy the ODI team gained its charm and the team won their first series during the tour of South Africa. Ponting led his team to an unmatched performance in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, winning all 11 of their matches and having crushed India in the final match. This was one of the biggest break in Punter’s career and he had pulled off a feat under heavy pressure due to ban on Lehmann, Bevan’s and Watson’s injury; Warne failing a drug test and a poorly performing Symonds etc. There was no looking back since then. Ponting assumed the Test captaincy after Steve Waugh’s retirement at the beginning of 2004 following the drawn home series against India. Under his captaincy, Australia won 48 out 77 Tests, 16 of them in a row between December 2005 and January 2008, and 163 out of 227 one-day internationals. He also bought home the 2003 and 2007 World Cups.
He made the announcement in Sydney that he wanted to resign as Australia’s captain but wanted to carry on playing for the team. After a brilliant stint as captain, it is very hard not to miss him at that position. Enlisted below are some of his prominent captaincy records:
- Most number victories as ODI captain: 162
- Most number victories as Test captain: 48
- Highest victory rate as ODI captain in more than 20 matches: 75.74%
- Most Cricket World Cups won as captain: 2, shared with Clive Lloyd
- Most consecutive Test victories won as captain: 16, shared with Steve Waugh
- Undefeated as Captain in World Cups (25 matches)
There are unlimited achievements to Pontings’ credit, listing all of them is indeed a very tedious task. The super talented batsman may not be known as ‘Captain, Australia’ but always be one of the finest cricketers Australia has produced and the world has witnessed!
Bidding a happy farewell, Adios Captain Punter! Keep your action going!
Courtesy: Wikipedia
Tags: Australia, Cricket, Indian Premier League, KKR, Kolkata Knight Riders, Punter, Ricky Ponting, Tasmanian Tigers
