Punter, I Bet

As he walked onto the field in what could possibly be his last test match in the subcontinent, Ricky Ponting was welcomed with a reverberating boo in Bangalore. India has always been the final frontier for most captains from Down Under. Two of Australia’s greatest captains, Ponting and Waugh never managed to beat the Indians at home even with the ‘Invincibles’ they had under them. It took a stand-by skipper in Adam Gilchrist to conquer India in Ricky’s absence. So difficult are the conditions here in the subcontinent where the placid wickets start turning on the last two days of the Test; the crowd starts appealing with the team and there is a drama every now and then; all these happen all of a sudden!

Ponting may not be gifted with the charisma of Waugh and has always been a brat in the cricket world. With his characteristic back-lift, he keeps you guessing about the stroke every time which is a huge gamble in itself. He took over the mantle from Waugh amidst much criticism since Shane Warne was always seen as the rightful heir to the throne. Warne, as former greats put it, may be the greatest captain Australia never had, but after Waugh, the choice became blurry since Warne was clouded with controversies at the time. Enter Punter!

Captaincy is an art in team games, more so in cricket not only because of the complexity of the decisions involved but also their retrospection. And to gauge Ponting, his career should be seen as Before and After Captaincy. Ponting the batsman, started aggressively similar to other predominant front-foot players of the era. He was the quintessential boyish brat needed in a team of mid-aged bullies. Due to the late blooming of his career in the fading 90s and the last decade, comparisons with other greats like Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar were inevitable. But just as the debate started, Ponting’s role in the team changed.

To Ricky, captaincy came by chance and his leadership till date is debatable. Yet, for the record, he is the most successful test captain of all time with more number of test wins than Stephen Waugh’s Invincibles. Though Ponting enjoyed the luxury of the services of his star-rated colleagues for the first few years of captaincy, eventually he had to be prepared for large-scale retirement. Everyone who retired hence, left as an all-time great, be it Hayden-Langer (One of the best opening pairs ever) or Shane Warne or Glenn McGrath. Even the solid Damien Martyn retired saying he was unhappy with CA. Ponting and the selectors were left with the task of finding the right players (don’t say replacements) for those open positions. Till date, those places have changed hands except for that of Ponting’s No.3. The fact that Shane Watson is still opening in Tests says it all. In fact the two Phils (Hughes and Jacques) are waiting for a long time since their injury recovery to retain their opening spots now being held by Katich and Watson. Perhaps, Watto is the John O’Shea of Australian Cricket who can bat at all positions, provided he is fit.

The great responsibility in Ponting’s hands is to do a Border and groom this bunch of youngsters. He has to do a repeat of what Border did to a budding Aussie side of spirited cricketers like Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor and Craig McDermott and what Taylor himself did to the Waughs, McGrath, Bevan and the like. And to still bat the way he does in the midst of this Herculean task, is truly commendable. He is never comparable with a Brian Lara or a Sachin Tendulkar who have been on and off in their leadership citing personal failures with the bat. Moreover, he is one among very few old-schoolers who do not sport any guard more than a helmet and mandatory pads and still plays the hook shot in a Test Match.

Standards of Australian cricket are predefined since it all started in the 19^th century and job security is a primary concern with most Australian players, leave alone captains. Steve Waugh who is considered as the best captain by even fans of opponent sides, was axed by the selectors from the one-day team. It is very obvious that each spot in the team cannot be taken for granted and Ponting’s is no different. His proposed successor Michael Clarke, who has been waiting, much like Prince Charles waiting for the Queen to .., you know what, does not have the aggressive approach to his batting that Ricky has.

Amidst all these, he still bats better than most of the others in the team though his hey-days are much beyond over. Age still has to take over this spilt-over cricketer of the previous generation. How many 35-year olds do you still see at point and extra-cover? He is still agile enough and can still pull off those Jonty-only superman run-outs and catches. He was second only to Jonty when he was there. He may still be hated by many fans across for regular indulgences in heated exchanges but that is what he is made of. Of late, the younger generation of players around the world is getting involved in quite a few ungentlemanly altercations, all too unnecessary. Aggression is a different art. As Matthew Hayden once said, “ Sledging is a tribute to a batter’s greatness and conveys that the fielding team fears him staying in the pitch for long. Only if he’s respected, he’s sledged.”

Don’t we miss the McGrath glare every delivery? Don’t we want Curtley Ambrose to call Waugh again for a fist fight? Don’t we still watch repeats of Venkatesh Prasad castling Sohail out soon after a mockery? Test cricket needs such drama and Ponting is very much part of it.

As he walks back one last time into the Aussie dressing room, he will join his mates as a pensioner. Also will be gone, the aggression and the art of delivering verbal volleys that he inherited from the mates of his generation. He may well be last of the breed. Bravo Punter!