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Ponting still awaiting his Indian summer
Source: Agencies |
December 24, 2011, Saturday
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IN a defiant captain's swansong, Ricky Ponting hit a fighting century in a losing cause as Australia bowed out of the World Cup earlier this year and then spoke of his hopes for a "Tendulkar-like" re-birth.
Nine months later, the gritty Tasmanian is still gazing at the horizon, waiting for a new dawn that has stubbornly refused to break. In Australia's four-test series against India starting December 26, Ponting will face off once again with the man he desperately wants to emulate.
Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar head into the Boxing Day test in Melbourne both desperate for a century but for very different reasons.
Tendulkar needs one more to complete his 100th international century, a near-mythical landmark that many doubt will ever be eclipsed.
Ponting, who stepped down from the captaincy in March and turned 37 on Monday, needs a first test ton in nearly two years merely to save his career.
Each have had their chances, with Tendulkar especially tantalizing as he reached 94 in the third test against the West Indies last month before nicking an edge to the slips. The 38-year-old also threatened with a 76 in the first West Indies test following a 91 in the fourth test against England at the Oval in August.
He arrives in Australia still near the peak of his powers, having amassed 651 runs in eight tests for an average of 46.50 this year.
Ponting's recent dismissals, flailing across the crease with the ball invariably cannoning into his pads, have been seen as an indication of a man no longer the master of his technique, let alone the match of the world's best bowlers.
"It is a tough thing to decide when it is the end," former Australia skipper Greg Chappell said. "The players of Ponting's calibre are rare and it is better to give them one game or one series too many than one game or one series too few because there aren't that many that can replace them.
"There does come a point - and I don't want to make a comment one way or another about Ricky's stage - where there is a diminishing return on the investment and the decision has to be taken as to whether there is somebody else who can do as well at the moment but has a chance to get better."
Nine months later, the gritty Tasmanian is still gazing at the horizon, waiting for a new dawn that has stubbornly refused to break. In Australia's four-test series against India starting December 26, Ponting will face off once again with the man he desperately wants to emulate.
Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar head into the Boxing Day test in Melbourne both desperate for a century but for very different reasons.
Tendulkar needs one more to complete his 100th international century, a near-mythical landmark that many doubt will ever be eclipsed.
Ponting, who stepped down from the captaincy in March and turned 37 on Monday, needs a first test ton in nearly two years merely to save his career.
Each have had their chances, with Tendulkar especially tantalizing as he reached 94 in the third test against the West Indies last month before nicking an edge to the slips. The 38-year-old also threatened with a 76 in the first West Indies test following a 91 in the fourth test against England at the Oval in August.
He arrives in Australia still near the peak of his powers, having amassed 651 runs in eight tests for an average of 46.50 this year.
Ponting's recent dismissals, flailing across the crease with the ball invariably cannoning into his pads, have been seen as an indication of a man no longer the master of his technique, let alone the match of the world's best bowlers.
"It is a tough thing to decide when it is the end," former Australia skipper Greg Chappell said. "The players of Ponting's calibre are rare and it is better to give them one game or one series too many than one game or one series too few because there aren't that many that can replace them.
"There does come a point - and I don't want to make a comment one way or another about Ricky's stage - where there is a diminishing return on the investment and the decision has to be taken as to whether there is somebody else who can do as well at the moment but has a chance to get better."
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