Ricky Ponting is a world class player and he has proved that to the world with his extraordinary batting performances. He has been the captain of the Australian cricket team after the retirement of the great Steve Waugh and has led his side to many victories
including two World Cup wins. The golden era in his career seems to be fading away as the player has struggled to captain his side and perform well in the recent past.
The problems started for Ponting after the retirement of some of the greats in the cricket like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Mathew Hayden and Justin Langer. Injury problems have also haunted the team with the likes of Brett Lee and Shaun Tait not fit to
play Test match cricket.
The team has also struggled due to the absence of a quality spinner in the side. After Shane Warne, no one has been able to fill his spot in the team and that has been a big factor in the poor form of the Australian team.
Ponting might be facing the toughest challenge of his life in the remaining three matches of the Ashes and the World Cup in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in 2011. Not only he has been losing matches as a captain, he has been unable to perform with the bat at the same time. The
upcoming three matches of the Ashes might be important in determining his future as a captain of the side.
It is high time for Ponting to step up and perform with the bat. By doing so, he will be able to do well in the field as well while captaining the side. If his own batting woes continue like this, he will not be able to concentrate on his captaincy. He has
been criticised by many times due to his abilities as a captain which is apparently the reason for his poor form with the bat.
Ponting has just managed 70 runs in the four innings he has played in the Ashes so far with his only fifty coming in the second innings of the first match. His problem is inconsistent bowlers, no quality spinner in the side and an uncertain performance by
the number six batsman in the team. Ponting has been under fire and things will go worse for him if he loses the Ashes.
According to Ponting the problem lies within his batting form. He believes that if he performs with the bat, the team will go on and win the matches. That can somewhat be considered as one of the solutions but he also requires bowlers who can take 20 wickets
in a Test match to win it.
There is a great pressure on Ponting to score runs for his team and there is even a greater pressure on him to lead the side to victories. If the team wants to win matches, there needs to be a combined performance from all the team members rather than individual
performances.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 fancied themselves as the favourites before the series started and until the first three days of the first match in Brisbane, they proved themselves right. Everything was headed in the right direction for Ponting and his men until England turned
the tables on them and hurt Australia badly.
Ponting believes that his team needs to be at its best to do well against the English side. “The pressure is on the players to perform and they will give it their best shot,” said Ponting.
Over the last year, Ponting has not been the batsmen he is known for. He has struggled to lead from the front and score big runs. If things continue to be like this, it can lead to a sad end of an era of brilliance.
Tags: