Ricky Ponting in the Pantheon of Greats
The Perth Test saw the loss of Australia's greatest batsman of the modern era, Ricky Ponting. The series loss to South Africa as well as missing out on the chance to claim the No.1 ranking in Tests made December 03rd the saddest day for Australian cricket. Ponting thrilled cricket audiences all over the world with his dazzling and aggressive stroke-play. The trigger movement of his wrists as he prepares to play a shot was one of the defining visuals of this match-winner. As Ponting walks into sunset, we compare his standing with the other great cricketing legends of the modern period. Comparisons are an integral part of human psychology. The simple definition of this term is that it is an evaluation of two or more things in relation to each other. This definition holds true for the game of cricket and in particular, in India, where the tendency to compare is more frequent. In this sport, majority of players are gauged by the sheer magnitude of the numbers that they amass during their playing times.
The juxtaposition of Ponting's playing career with several great players whose playing time coincided with him is to put his greatness into a broader perspective. In the years that Ponting played, the world saw the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul pile on the runs. These players have helped their teams achieve success in the Test arena and the amount of runs that they have scored makes them stand out from the ordinary players.
In this article, we divide Ponting's Test career into three intervals of six years. The first epoch is from his debut in 1995 till the end of 2000. The second epoch is from the starting of 2001 till the end of 2006 and the third epoch is from the start of 2007 till his retirement in 2012. We compare the contributions of Tendulkar, Kallis, Chanderpaul, Lara and Dravid at the same epochs. The second reason for choosing these players is because of the sheer magnitude of numbers amassed in Test cricket.
EPOCH 1: 1995 TILL END OFF 2000
Ponting made his debut against Sri Lanka at Perth. He was unlucky to miss out on a century on Test debut but there was no looking back for him and he started out on the path that would lead him to greatness. The table shows the starting of Ponting's career and how the other emerging greats fared:
| NAME | MATCHES | INNINGS | NOT OUTS | RUNS | HIGHEST SCORE | AVERAGE | FIFTIES | CENTURIES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RICKY PONTING | 38 | 59 | 7 | 2410 | 197 | 46.34 | 11 | 7 |
| SACHIN TENDULKAR | 41 | 70 | 6 | 3933 | 217 | 61.45 | 11 | 16 |
| RAHUL DRAVID | 40 | 69 | 7 | 3322 | 200* | 53.58 | 17 | 8 |
| JACQUES KALLIS | 43 | 69 | 8 | 2629 | 160 | 43.09 | 13 | 7 |
| BRIAN LARA | 43 | 77 | 2 | 3022 | 213 | 40.29 | 14 | 8 |
| SHIVNARINE CHANDERPAUL | 36 | 62 | 5 | 2146 | 137* | 37.64 | 14 | 2 |
*The period is taken from 07th December 1995 till 31st December 2000. Ponting made his Test debut on 08th December 1995.
One cursory glance at the table is enough to conclude that Sachin Tendulkar was the most dominant batsman in that epoch. It was at this period when India performed like tigers at home but they performed like kittens abroad. His golden period started off from the Sri Lanka series and continued till the Australia series in 1999 where he scored a total of 11 centuries in nine series played. As far as Ponting is concerned, he did not get going until the 1997 Ashes but during the home summer series against Pakistan and India in 1999-2000, he really flourished. Dravid was getting a lot of starts but he failed to get the big scores while Kallis started off on a consistent note by scoring a couple of timely centuries.
Ponting's first major contribution in this epoch was a brilliant 127 against England at Leeds in 1997 which helped Australia take a lead in the six match series. His stature grew in the coming years and it culminated in the 1999-2000 home season when his centuries against Pakistan and India helped Australia achieve a whitewash over both nations. At this point in time, during 1999, Brian Lara displayed his legendary batting skills when he scored three tons in the series against Australia. The mastery of his batting was in full flow during the third Test at Barbados when his 153 in the fourth innings gave West Indies a one wicket victory over the dominating Australians.
EPOCH 2: 2001 TILL END OF 2006
By the start of the new millennium, all the batsmen featured in this list had truly emerged into match-winners. With the passage of time, their batting skills reached a zenith. It was at this period where Ponting endured a golden run and he consolidated his position as the greatest batsman. The table here illustrates this period:
| NAME | MATCHES | INNINGS | NOT OUTS | RUNS | HIGHEST SCORE | AVERAGE | FIFTIES | CENTURIES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RICKY PONTING | 71 | 123 | 18 | 6913 | 257 | 65.83 | 25 | 26 |
| SACHIN TENDULKAR | 55 | 90 | 9 | 4174 | 248* | 51.53 | 18 | 11 |
| RAHUL DRAVID | 66 | 111 | 15 | 5776 | 270 | 60.16 | 29 | 15 |
| JACQUES KALLIS | 60 | 105 | 20 | 5443 | 189* | 64.03 | 27 | 17 |
| BRIAN LARA | 57 | 103 | 2 | 5883 | 400* | 58.24 | 18 | 19 |
| SHIVNARINE CHANDERPAUL | 56 | 98 | 13 | 4054 | 203* | 47.69 | 19 | 12 |
*This period is taken from 01st January 2001 till 31st December 2006.
It is evident that Ponting was in a zone of his own in this period. His brilliant run started from the Pakistan series in 2002 when he scored two centuries. His batting reached a different level altogether in the series against West Indies in 2003 when he scored three centuries in the series, including a double ton. In the India series of 2003-04, Ponting was in a different class altogether when he scored 706 runs, including two consecutive double centuries. The captaincy was handed over to Ponting after Steve Waugh's retirement in 2004 and he started off brilliantly when his team whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0 in their den. It was during this period when Ponting showed another side to his batting when he grafted hard and stroked a wonderful 156 against England during the 2005 Ashes at Old Trafford to save the match.
2005-06 was a spectacular year for Ponting. In his 100th Test, he became the only cricketer to score centuries in both innings against South Africa. He repeated the feat again in South Africa at Durban. His feat of scoring a century in both the innings three times is equal only with Sunil Gavaskar. If there was one batsman who stood toe-to-toe with Ponting, it was Dravid. He defined consistency in this period when he scored four consecutive centuries in four Tests (three against England and one against the West Indies). Before that, it was his career-changing knock of 180 against Australia at Kolkata in 2001 gave Indian cricket the greatest moment in their history. His knock of 233 in Adelaide gave India a victory over Australia on their home patch in 22 years. Later on, he followed it up with 270 at Rawalpindi to give India their first ever series win on Pakistani soil. He reserved his best again for Pakistan when he scored centuries in both the innings during the Kolkata Test in 2005.
At the same time, Kallis' batting assumed legendary proportions when he scored five centuries in five Tests during the series against West Indies and New Zealand. He followed it up by scoring three centuries in the five match series against England in 2005 which South Africa lost 2-1. Around the same time, Chanderpaul became the bedrock upon which the hopes of the West Indies cricket team rested. Along with Brian Lara, Chanderpaul was the man whom the opposition feared for his solidity. By the high standards that he has set, Tendulkar endured a lean run in this period. It was at this time when he was plagued with a chronic Tennis Elbow problem but he scored some big tons on certain occasions, most notably his 193 at Leeds in 2002 and his unbeaten 241 at Sydney in 2004.
Brian Lara continued his gargantuan appetite for runs. In 2001, he single-handedly dominated Muttiah Muralitharan in the 2001 series against Sri Lanka when he scored three centuries. His consistency continued right through 2002-03 and it reached the peak when he scored a world record unbeaten 400 against England at St. Johns, Antigua in 2004. Centuries against Australia and Pakistan only strengthened his reputation as the greatest West Indies batsman.
EPOCH 3: 2007 TILL RETIRMENT IN 2012
The main challenge for sportsperson is to stay at the top for a long period after getting there. In the case of Ponting, as with every great person, the decline started after achieving a peak. In this final table, we look at how Ponting fell behind in the pecking order.
| NAME | MATCHES | INNINGS | NOT OUTS | RUNS | HIGHEST SCORE | AVERAGE | FIFTIES | CENTURIES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RICKY PONTING | 59 | 105 | 4 | 4055 | 221 | 40.14 | 26 | 8 |
| SACHIN TENDULKAR | 58 | 102 | 10 | 4972 | 214 | 54.04 | 23 | 16 |
| RAHUL DRAVID | 58 | 106 | 10 | 4190 | 191 | 43.64 | 17 | 13 |
| JACQUES KALLIS | 55 | 94 | 12 | 4908 | 224 | 59.85 | 16 | 20 |
| SHIVNARINE CHANDERPAUL | 45 | 76 | 20 | 3960 | 203* | 70.71 | 21 | 13 |
*The statistics are taken from 01st January 2007 till the end of the third Test at Perth in December 2012. Brian Lara is not included in this period as he retired in 2006.
It is in this period where we see a triumvirate of great batsman dominate the sport. Tendulkar, Kallis and Chanderpaul dazzled the cricketing world with their contributions. Kallis was in peak form during the 2007 period when he scored five centuries in four matches. He continued to pile on the runs against Australia, England and India. In 2011-12, Kallis achieved a personal landmark when he scored his first Test double century in Tests against India in Centurion in December 2011. He followed it up with another double century against Sri Lanka in Cape Town in 2012.
Chanderpaul, meanwhile, scored heavily against top teams. Against England in 2007, he scored 446 runs with an average of 148.66. His form against Australia during the home series in 2008 was simply outstanding as he scored 442 runs at an average of 147.33. Tendulkar had a wonderful 2008 when he scored centuries against Australia and England. The unbeaten 103 against England at Chennai at this period was a personal land-mark for Tendulkar, as he helped India chase down the fourth highest fourth innings score of 387 by six wickets.
Ponting went through a lean patch from the start of 2009 till the November 2011. However, in the series against India in 2012, he got back to his old form when he scored 544 runs at an average of 108.80. Although his batting form endured a prolonged slump, it was at this period that Ponting created history when he became the first to win 100 Tests as a player.
CONCLUSION
History always judges sportsmen by their contributions to their craft. The sheer magnitude of Ponting's numbers and the list of records amassed put him firmly in the bracket of legendary cricket players. His retirement makes the cricketing world and Australia poorer. Thank you for the memories, Punter.
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