The rise and fall of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RT-Ponting-c2377 - an Opinion
Ricky Ponting, the veteran Australian cricketer, is amongst the finest batsman the game of cricket has ever seen. Cricket is amongst the most followed sports in Australia and this prompted Ponting to pursue his career in the sport.
The 37-year-old started playing cricket at a very early age and in time made his way through the ranks. Step by step, Ponting built his game and finally made his professional cricket debut by playing a first-class game for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tasmania-c854
Tigers in 1992. The right-handed batsman was merely 17-years-old when he made his first appearance.
However, it took Punter another three years to earn his first international cap for the Australian national team. Ponting made his One-Day International debut in December, 1995, against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 during a quadrangular series
match at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864.
Australians' batting line-up was steered by likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mark-Edward-Waugh-c74603. Therefore, Ponting, who was a newbie at that time, was used as a pinch hitter and came out to bat at number six. The right-hander did not
make the most of the given chance as he got out after scoring just 1 run.
The than Australian skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, in fifth game of the series, where the batter
scored his first half-century and thus cemented made the position.
Ponting impressed everyone with his stroke playing and was one of the most agile fielders in the centre. Punter's performance in the four nation series in due course earned him a place in the Australian Test side. He played his
first Test match for the Kangaroos against a touring Sri Lankan side at Perth, in which he scored 96 runs.
With passing years, Ponting not only grew as a batsman but overcame certain issues, such as his drinking problem, which had distorted his image as a youngster.
The right-hander was part of the Australian roster that lifted the 1999 World Cup under the stewardship of Steve Waugh, by thumping http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the finals of the tournament.
By the year 2000, Ponting became the lynchpin of Australia's batting order. The cricketer took active part in the decision making. Though, the wicket-keeper batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adam-Gilchrist-c918 was in line to become the successor of Waugh, Cricket
Australia decided to give Ponting the responsibility and he did not disappoint.
Ponting inspired Aussies to their third World Cup glory in 2003, and the second in succession. The Kangaroos were invincible in the mega event, as they remained undefeated. The story was pretty much the same in 2007 World Cup,
when Ponting became the only skipper in ODI cricket after the great West Indian http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clive-Hubert-Lloyd-c51327 to win back-to-back World Cups.
Ponting and Australians were flying high till 2007 but things started to change when certain senior cricketers such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Matthew-Lawrence-Hayden-c75233
followed in their footsteps in the coming years.
For a couple of years, Ponting, along with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MEK-Hussey-c1942, did his very best to keep the Aussies afloat, but the veteran cricketer’s own performance started to deteriorate in 2011, especially in limited overs cricket. The right-hander
stepped down from Australian captaincy after getting knocked out of 2011 World Cup; however, he remained part of the ODI and Test team. That was until the 2012 CB series, when selectors lost their faith in Ponting and dropped him.
The highest run getter in Australian cricket was devastated by the decision and eventually decided to hang his boots in the 50-over game. With all said and done, Ponting’s International career is not over by all means as he is
still part of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746’s Test team. Nonetheless, it would be foolish to expect the batsman to last forever and the curtains may eventually fall someday.
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