Ricky Ponting says losing captaincy does not affect his love for cricket – Cricket News Update
Former Australian skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ricky-Thomas-Ponting-c85411 has stated that stepping down from captaincy has not affected his love for cricket.
Ponting said that he decided to retire from the captaincy since he believed it was the right time to hand the responsibility to someone else, who could guide the team in next Ashes and Champions Trophy.
The veteran stepped down as Australia’s skipper after the International Cricket Council (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625) World Cup 2011.
The Australian’s where sent packing in the quarter-final stage by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
The 36-year-old admitted that he was disappointed with the way he and his team played in the tournament, but it never meant that he lost interest in the game.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747. The tour was successful as Aussies white-washed Bengalis in the three-match One-Day International series. In the three innings, Ponting scored
118 runs at an average of 59.
“I wouldn’t be at the gym at 6 o’clock [in the morning] in the past couple of weeks if I wasn’t excited about playing,” he added.
Ponting earlier expressed that he wanted to play for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 for the next couple of years, as he was fully fit.
“All I’m about now is doing the best I can to make the team better,” Ponting said.
The veteran also said that his decision to continue playing received great support from Cricket Australia.
Under Ponting’s leadership, the Australian team clinched the World Cup twice – in 2003 as well as in 2007. Playing 352 ODI innings, he has scored 13406 runs at an average of 42.69, including 30 centuries and 79 fifties.
In addition, he has also played in 259 Test innings, scoring 12363 runs at an average of 53.51, including 39 centuries and 56 fifties.
Indian batting maestro, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sachin-Ramesh-Tendulkar-c87800, is the only batsman who has hit more Tests and ODI centuries than Ponting.
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