ICC World Cup 2011: Ricky Ponting feeling ‘fresh’
Australian captain Ricky Ponting is raring to go after being declared fit from a finger injury that kept him out of the last Ashes test match as well as the entire ODI series against England at home.
The Tasmanian batting legend is eying a third straight ICC World Cup title, as his team arrives in the Subcontinent to take part in the biggest cricket event in the international arena.
Ponting stated that he was feeling ‘fresh as ever’ after a month on the sidelines and was looking forward to doing well in the mega event.
He feels that despite the injuries to two important members of the team, Mike Hussey and Nathan Hauritz, the Aussies have a good chance of completing three wins in three successive editions of the premier tournament.
Ponting stated that he was itching to get back on the field during the team’s 6-1 triumph in the One Day International series against England.
"It's been a while between games for me and sitting back watching the guys play has been pretty difficult, but to see them play as well as they have has been very satisfying," he said.
The right hander who is the leading run-scorer for his country in both test and ODI cricket added that the ‘never say die attitude’ has been a hallmark of all Australian teams for a long time.
“The most satisfying thing for me was that when we were down and out and looked like getting beaten we found a way to win games, which I think has been a trademark of good Australian teams for a long time now,” he said.
Ponting has been one of the leading performers in the history of the World Cup tournament, scoring runs against all opponents. The Kangaroos have not lost a single match in the ICC World Cup, under his captaincy.
Aussies have remained unbeaten in their two successive World Cup winning campaigns of 2003 and 2007. The last time that the lost a match at the tournament was in 1999 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 at Leeds. Since then, they have won 29 games on the trot, most of them
with convincing margins.
With such an incredible record, it is difficult to write off Ponting and his men. One remembers a post on a social website after http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 in the 2007 final.
“The ICC has decided that the 2011 World Cup will be a short event, the opening ceremony would be followed by the closing where-in the Australians would be handed over the trophy, as they fear that once again holding the tournament and staging nearly 50
games would be a futile exercise as the Aussies are in no mood of relinquishing the trophy.”
Tags: