Ricky Ponting: A Legendary Cricket Career
Ricky Ponting, hailed as one of the most formidable players of his era, emerged as Australia’s leading run-scorer, standing just below the iconic Bradman in the pantheon of cricketing greats.
Rod Marsh hailed Ponting as the best young batsman he had ever seen. Ponting started with Tasmania at 17 and Australia at 20, and on his Test debut in 1995, he was unfortunately out for 96.
Early on, he had some growing pains, including publicly admitting to having an alcohol problem, but as time went on, he matured more and more, racking up runs and records. After Sachin Tendulkar retired, he was the second-most prolific Test scorer in history with 27,483 runs and 71 hundreds in international cricket.
Among his batting highlights were two explosive double-centuries in back-to-back Test matches in 2003 that brought him a series total of 706 runs, and another double in his final series against India in 2012. He averaged 54 from 29 Tests against them.
He began his Test career against the archrival England at Headingley in 1997, scoring a century in his opening match that not only helped Australia overcome a 50 for 4 deficit but also set up a historic victory that would become synonymous with them in the ensuing decade. With hundreds in the first two Test matches of the 2002–03 Ashes crushing, Ponting was prominent; his 156 to force a draw at Old Trafford in 2005 was an epic in a series rife with them; and he gorged himself in the 5-0 rout of 2006–07 with 196 and 142 in Brisbane and Adelaide, and two fifties in addition.
His streak of eight hundreds in nine Tests, which began eleven months earlier, came to an end with those efforts. He only missed two years between 2002 and 2008 without amassing at least 1000 runs in a Test match. He accomplished the feat in six ODI years, including 2003 when he destroyed India with 140 unbroken runs in the World Cup final, stealing the title before they could even begin to pursue it.
Even though Ponting lost three Ashes series and matches against South Africa and India, his record as captain was still incredible: 48 wins in 77 Tests giving him a victory % second only to Steve Waugh in the history of the game.
In the 2011 World Cup, he also skippered Australia to 26 straight World Cup matches in which they went the full 50 over distance without losing. After that streak came to an end, he resigned as captain. He had little tactical responsibility during the first three years of his rule because he was leading a unit of superstars, but after the team’s nucleus retired, he had to transition from manager to molder.
Following his retirement, Ponting pursued a career in coaching. He led the Mumbai Indians to the 2015 IPL championship during his three years in that role. He takes over as the Delhi franchise’s coach in 2018.
FORMATS | MAT | INNS | RUNS | HS | AVE | 100s | 50s |
TESTs | 168 | 287 | 13378 | 257 | 51.85 | 41 | 62 |
ODIs | 375 | 365 | 13704 | 164 | 42.03 | 30 | 82 |
