Don’t count Ponting out yet

Cricket is a game of short memories; whilst performing you are hailed as a king and the moment you drop a touch, you receive a barrage of criticism. At the moment, one person experiencing this is none other than former Australian captain, Ricky Ponting.

With calls from critics and his former team mates asking him to consider retirement, Punter, with his intrepid and determined character, has hit back with quite a force, answering those calls with crucial match winning performances against South Africa, New Zealand and recently in the first Test against India which powered Australia to much-needed victories.

Tough times for Ponting started after the home series against Pakistan in March 2010 in which he was the highest run-scorer for Australia with 378 runs from three matches at an average of 63. It also included a magical Man-of-the-Match performance of 209 at his home ground, Hobart, helping the hosts thrash Pakistan by 231 runs.

In the following series in New Zealand he failed with the bat in both Tests, scoring just 69 runs, and followed it up with just 98 runs from two Tests against Pakistan in England. There was just one half-century (66), at Headingley, which ended up in a losing cause. Shades of the old Ponting emerged again during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India in October 2010, as he scored three half-centuries from four innings. He amassed 224 runs from two matches at an average of 56, but the need of the hour was a larger score. He was not able to achieve that and the visitors suffered a 2-0 drubbing at the hands of the Indians.

His major slump began during the 2010-11 Ashes series at home in which he could only manage an abject 113 runs from eight innings at an average of 16.14 with a highest score of 51 not out. What made his performance look worse was the fact that the likes of Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson, Australia’s tail-enders, outscored him in the series.

Australia’s form, overall, took a dive as well, so following their quarter-final loss to India in the 2011 World Cup he resigned as captain from all forms of the game. A brilliant seven-year term as Test leader yielded 48 wins and 6,542 runs from 77 matches at an average of 51.51.
The horror batting-run continued in the away series against Sri Lanka in August-September 2011. He scored 124 runs from four innings at a disappointing average of 31 and, after the failure in the first Test at Cape Town in November, Ponting had scored just 636 runs from 25 innings at a dismal average of 26.50 without a single century from March 2010 till November 2011.

Calls for retirement from every corner emerged after his string of consistent failures. He persevered, however, and with the confidence of his captain and selectors, he began his resurgence with a brave 62 against South Africa in the second Test at Johannesburg. That set the stage for Australia’s chase of 310 in the fourth innings after he came in at a difficult position of 19/2. The innings was even more important as Australia were reeling 1-0 behind in the two-match series and it helped them draw level with the Proteas.

He then helped his team out of trouble against New Zealand in Brisbane with a 78-run innings. He resurrected the hosts with two half-century partnerships after Australia were struggling at 25/2. Australia still tasted defeat in the second Test against the Kiwis and Ponting was still under pressure for the India series, with speculation that he could retire at the end of the event.

Ponting started the series by playing a major role in the victory against India in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne. He looked confident going into the first innings, where he made 62, but it was his second innings performance of 60 that was more notable. With the Aussies reduced to 27/4, he and Mike Hussey knuckled down to save the situation. They added 115 runs together, which helped set up a target of 292, something beyond India’s reach. Both knocks had some aesthetically pleasing stroke play, earning him the best Batting Momentum in the match.
He became the all-time third highest run-scorer against India in Tests with 2,133 runs at an average of 48.47 in 26 Tests against India, only behind Clive Lloyd (2,344 in 28 Tests) and Javed Miandad (2,228 in 28 Tests). He also now has four consecutive half-centuries against India now - 77 and 72 at Bangalore in October 2010 and 62 and 60 at the MCG.

The centuries might not be coming, but a strong resurgence has begun and with two solid innings against India in the first Test and with three more to go, a big one is definitely on the cards. The time has come where he can show his critics that “form is temporary, class is permanent.”