Ricky Ponting; his future and other woes
As most pundits predict, Ricky Ponting may have participated in his final and last Test match in England. The Aussie skipper, has not come out in the open to declare the end of his legacy.
No one knows if Ponting will fight on for more time, for the final chance to try and triumph on enemy soil or not. Last September the Australian cricket team went back to the kangaroo land deeply wounded by the loss in Ashes. The failure of earning the urn has made Ponting further rational on his likelihood of being included in the next Ashes playing IX.
England has continued to upset Ponting. The loss has diminished him to a bitter status as a batsman and as a skipper. In the previous twenty Test matches, Ponting has averaged 41.79 and has been able to win only three of 12 Tests as captain. Even the two tests against Pakistan couldn’t leave him victorious, as the series ended in a 1-all draw.
Considering the level of new youngsters and their performances, Ponting without doubt knows that his odds of being in the squad hang on a very thin line. whether he gets to compete with excellently skilled inclusions certainly depends on his ability to hold on to his reflexes. Such conditionions might be a little worrying for Ponting, since the preceding 12 months saw him average almost 40 in Tests.
Ponting's double century against Pakistan, in Hobart earlier this year was made possible simply because Mohammad Aamer plummeted an easy catch on leg when the skipper had not even made a single run. Also in his latest test, again http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, he made 66, but was saved by glory on the first ball that he padded, which could have easily struck the off stump.
Ponting was quoted as saying that he cherishes every moment while captaining his team and loves playing for his country, but doesn’t know if he’ll be playing in England yet. Talking about his selection, he said that if he gets back to England in a couple of years then so be it, but if he’s not perfect enough then there's zilch he can do about that.
If there was a clue of lack of faith in his statement, it would definitely be unsual for Ponting. He is not a person who would wholeheartedly admit to weakness and shift himself down the order. At a time when his team was trying to make their way back into the match against Pakistan at Headingley, Ponting looked to be offensive in opposition to exceptional world class swing bowlers.
Admitting to his aggresivness, Ponting said that he doesn’t think that he played more defensively than normal. He said that he has always had a fairly aggressive plan against the bowlers and that he felt that he focused on his usual playing style in the second innings of the match, even though the bowlers were in good form.
Fighting against the moving ball will be even more difficult in the future, but at present, Ricky Ponting will keep his focus on the Ashes to be played on home soil and on the upcoming World Cup, scheduled for early next year. Whether he's Captaining or not, Ponting will make waves, should this decision be left on supposition.
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