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“The strength of the group is the strength of the leaders.” The powerful dominance of Australia in cricket for two decades can mainly be attributed to their captains. Various players, situations, combinations, and conflicts, but the result always pointed towards victory.
For 20 years, Australia was close to invincible. Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting were the pillars of Australian cricket, in the way they led their teams.
Their approach towards the game and captaincy were distinctly different, but the focus on results was brutally instilled. A team having a motto “perform to play” has never derailed from its strict axing policy, irrespective of the past glories and the player’s greatness.
Cricket Australia has been very clear that they live in the present and play for the future. This ruthless axe hasn’t missed one of the all-time greats, Ponting, at least in the one-day format.
Ricky Thomas Ponting has been a pioneer for Australian cricket and is one of the best captains the world has seen. The past of Ponting stands testimony to his greatness. The past also includes the recently concluded series against India, where he looked at his supreme best. He was under tremendous pressure to perform before the series began, but Punter answered his critics in his own inimitable style.
He amassed a staggering 535 runs in four Tests, including a double century and a score above 150. That’s when he really fought for his place in the team. Even at the age of 37, he was forced to prove himself. That’s Australian cricket for you.
17 years of ODI cricket, 13,700 runs with an average a whisker above 42 speaks volumes about his consistency and thirst for scoring. Every time he walks to the crease, he makes the opposition think about how to get rid of him. His famous crouch-pull shots sends an alarming message to the opposition.
In the 375 matches he played, every time he took guard, you almost got the feeling that he treated each innings like his first. Coming in at No.3 is not child’s play. Ponting managed his role at No.3 with aplomb and success. The World Cup final in 2003 is just one example of his impact in that position. Though Ponting began his career as an opener, the one-down role was performed to perfection and his approach to that pivotal position can be taken as the benchmark for many to follow.
It is not only his batting that propelled him to become one of the greats of the game, but also his fielding. As far as my knowledge goes, he’s the only player to have successfully evaded age catching up with his fielding. His reflexes are a god’s gift and his instincts are to die for.
His ground fielding within the circle makes batsmen think twice before running when the ball approaches him. Ponting often stood at cover, point, and took to the slips as well. Though the slip cordon was a specialist position, Ponting’s agility earned him a spot among the great slip fielders for Australia like Taylor, Allan Border, Mark Waugh, and Matthew Hayden.
He also ventured into more specialist positions such as silly mid off, short leg and silly point. Only a fielder who has immaculate anticipation, knowledge, agility and instinct can be placed anywhere in the field. He was an undeniable asset, taking some stunning catches and also saving 10-15 runs per game for Australia.
During 2004, when Australia were searching for an able replacement to the legendary Steve Waugh as captain, the only person at that time who showed the promise and eagerness to lead the nation was Ricky Ponting. Though people raised questions about his temperament, Ponting braved his way successfully to handle the team in a controlled fashion.
Ponting was a very shrewd captain, who followed every split second of the game without distraction. He showed no mercy on the field, both to his players and the opposition. He was a bundle of energy, too risky to have him close to you. His incessant jabber and motivation to his team often got on the opposition’s nerves. He often had on-field ‘chats’ with the opposition that affected their concentration, playing into the hands of Ponting and his men.
His uninhibited style of captaincy made Australia monopolise the game. He had a plan to execute and even if it deviated, his knowledge to assess the game and the situation instantly made him the perfect catalyst for getting the best out of players. Ponting grew with age and his captaincy was ruthless and aggressive. The world had not seen such a captain, who made his team believe that winning was just another habit, like brushing your teeth every day.
In the seven years he captained the team, Australia looked at their shining best, putting themselves way ahead of the remaining cricketing nations. Whenever a team played Australia, the opposition was given little chance of tasting victory and if they did, they would treat it more preciously than gold.
Ponting headed a team which had all-time greats such as Shane Warne, Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath. To give them due respect and also the space to express their individualities was a perfect ploy that proved successful for both him and Australia.
Aussies have traditionally concentrated on the Ashes, and Ponting’s dream was to safeguard their Ashes much more than the World Cup. Unfortunately it took a beating in 2005, when Australia lost their grip on the Ashes for the first time since 1987.
But in the run up to the next Ashes at home they managed to whitewash the West Indies and South Africa. The term whitewash was becoming increasingly prominent whenever Australia took on an opposition, which was a credit to Ricky Ponting and the way he handled his troops.
The ever gum-chewing Ponting’s words were precise, to the point and blunt. Though he was a terrific spokesman for Australia, he often spoke his mind, which didn’t go very well with the media or his cricket board. He was the source of a lot of controversy, including his criticism of some greats like Jacques Kallis and Sachin Tendulkar.
But the victories seemed to go to his head. The invincibility wasn’t taken with much humility. Though that attitude helped his team dominate the world of cricket, eventually it began to lose its sheen, as did Ponting.
The famous Sydney Test against India stands testimony to that fact. Umpiring errors added to his desperation to win, with behaviour that seemed unsportsmanlike through the series. He was never a believer in the so called spirit of the game. His agenda was simple – he wanted to win games for Australia. He wouldn’t walk if the umpire had not given him out, even if he knew he was.
Though Ponting shares a great distinctions with Clive Lloyd, that of captaining his team to two successive World Cup victories, the defeats that followed had an impact on his performance, both as a player and a captain. He started to doubt his ability to play like before, fuelled by outside influences, including the media and the board.
The respect from the players also looked like as if it was diminishing slowly. Ponting hit a lean patch in the last couple of years, during which his team had lost the Ashes and, as a team, Australia began to lose their invincible reputation. Teams began to believe they could beat Australia.
Ponting stepped down from the captaincy after being ousted from the World Cup by India. Afterwards, Ponting was a shadow of his former self. His performances plunged and Cricket Australia’s axe did not miss. His words in his press conference showed his eagerness to still represent his country and his unquenchable thirst for cricket.
“I’ve always been a traditionalist, I’ve loved every opportunity I’ve had to play cricket for Australia, whether it be one day cricket, Twenty20 or Test cricket. All I’ve got left is Test cricket and I want to make every post a winner with that, and make sure that every time I have a chance to play for Australia I’m the best prepared I can be and I enjoy every moment.”
It is always hard to see a player of such stature exiting the game in such a manner. A great player like him should decide when he wants to quit, rather than the circumstances pushing him away from the team. But even in these situations, he still gives himself the chance to play for Australia.
We can never deviate from the fact that he is a legend and a leader.
After all, he is Ricky Punter Ponting.
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