Ricky Ponting’s future at stake if Australia loses to India – ICC World Cup 2011
Australia and India will be up against each other in the second quarter-final of the ICC World Cup 2011 today at Ahmedabad. This encounter is considered as the most interesting one in the knock-out stage of the tournament, as both teams have some outstanding
players who can change the complexion of the game very quickly.
Cricket analysts are pretty certain that Pakistan, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 are favourites to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup, but no cricket pundit is ready to predict with surety about the battle between Australia and India.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 will surely have an edge before the start of this encounter because of their recent form and the advantage they have with the home crowd and conditions. However, one cannot take the defending champions lightly, because of their ability to bounce back
from behind.
Australia has dominated the cricket world for the last one and a half decade, but they are not the same unit after the retirement of their premier players like Glen McGrath, Shane Warne, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adam-Gilchrist-c918 and Matthew Hayden. The Kangaroos lost the Ashes on
consecutive occasions in 2009 and then recently in 2010-11. Apart from the Ashes, Ricky Ponting and his men have failed to make a big impression on international cricket for the last 14 months.
It has been openly discussed in the Australian media and the cricketing ranks that Ponting and Tim Nielsen might lose their jobs if the Aussies fail to do too well in the World Cup. So we can effectively say that the jobs of the Australian captain and the
coach are on line with this encounter against India.
Ponting has been a true servant of Australian cricket and apart from his great achievements as the Aussie captain, he is considered as one of the best batsmen in the history of the game and arguably the best along with Sachin Tendulkar in the modern era.
However, he has been criticised heavily because of his behaviour and not being able to digest the defeats. He broke a television set in the dressing room when he was run out against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 in Australia’s opening fixture of the World Cup and later on he was
clearly frustrated during fielding against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Canada-c748. He was also fined by the International Cricket Council when he had an argument with Aleem Dar after a review from Australia was overturned during the Ashes 2010-11.
Ponting’s behaviour has raised more question marks about his ability to lead the young Australian side which is going through a rebuilding phase. He is without doubt the most successful captain in the history of Australian cricket and has won two World Cups
for his country in 2003 and 2007 as captain, but chances are bleak that he will be able to retain his place in the side as skipper, if the Kangaroos fail to defend their title this year.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Green-c60723 in their last group match. It is a great challenge for Ponting and Nielsen to dismantle the Indians
in their own backyard, but they will be working over-time to devise a strategy which could also save their jobs.
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