Skip to main content

Are we hearing the prelude to Ponting’s swan song?

Hailed as one of the rarities of modern day cricket, Ricky Ponting, the present day Australian captain is swimming against the tide to regain his lost glory and the match at Adelaide could well be a prelude to his swan song. Used to hogging the limelight at the slightest of opportunities, Ponting is now on a slippery slope that could bring an unceremonious end to his career. The Australian selectors mean business, and with one of the experienced bowlers left to ponder on his performance in the dressing room, the selectors have sent a loud and clear message for the non-performing heroes.

The path to Australian captaincy wasn’t strewn with roses, though Ponting had been predicted as a future Australian captain when Steve Waugh was busy marshalling his troops to reassert the Australian supremacy. From a bar-hopping and a brawl-inviting cricketer, Ponting had to fight his way out to cut down his hedonistic pursuits to stay in the race for the Australian captaincy.

With the first ball dismissal at Adelaide, Ponting is not certainly at his best, and with the burdening captaincy adding salt to the wound, Ponting might just be on the verge of a collapse, unwarranted of a cricketer of his standards. The Australians, in general, find it hard to swallow the success of the opponents and Ponting was no exception to this rule as he had his finger pointed at the Brisbane wicket for a shoddy bowling performance in the second innings of the Brisbane test when Cook cooked the Australian bowlers to offer a delectable feast to the many English fans the world over.

With England sitting pretty at the Adelaide, and with Cook on 48 and Trott on 47, on their way to agonize the Australians again, Ponting has a herculean task ahead. Is Adelaide Test the last straw for Ponting?

Australians are tough and they battle it out to the last, and let’s hope that Ponting is equally tough to weather the storms and emerge victorious from this pathetic position.

Comments

  1. With England sitting pretty at the Adelaide, and with Cook on 48 and Trott on 47, on their way to agonize the Australians again, Ponting has a herculean task ahead. Is Adelaide Test the last straw for Ponting?
    Cricket

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ash, Batters Despised Your ‘Mate’ Call

Check, mate was a bugle call from that Grand Master. The batters turned pawns, and he the captor. My Tribe. And when someone from your tribe shatters the illusion of off-spinners being not intelligent and sharp, you owe him, or certainly I owe him an ode to an off-spinner, our tribe. My tribe has done the cricket world proud, time and again. Ash, Ash Wednesday, it was. Remarkably, a reflection perhaps of how off spinners have defied the notion of them being orchestrators of damp squibs. Or of repentance of my tribe as not to have set the score straight with their brains deceiving the brawn with flight. Your clarion call may have come out of the blue, denied you the solemn farewell, and may have invited thunderous denunciations. So, what? You will find succor to know that your tribe celebrates you – one of the hallowed sons of the tribe. Your display of cognitive superiority, mind-game thrillers, and the stamp of off-spinning authority on the field puts you there among the pantheons. Th...

Camaraderie to Come Dearie

The thwacking of the ball echoed across the parking lot. As one soaked in the aura of Lords grounds, some energetic boys plying their trade of cricket were setting up a drama of intense action. There was this little-Dhoni at the batting crease packing all the punches into his shot making. That he had to knock off 8 runs in the last over meant the boy had to carry an old head upon his young shoulders. Cricket and pressure-cooker situations walk hand in hand these days. The thunderbolt from a lanky kid took our little-Dhoni by surprise. The extra bounce did him in. The ball took the faint edge of the blade and the keeper did his thankless job. Little-Dhoni didn't budge, stood his ground and dismissed the idea of the faintest nick. He had made up his mind to win at all cost. That was serious sport indeed. George Orwell's primer on sports came up as the apposite match for this situation. Serious sport and fair play can never meet, said Orwell, and went as far as to say th...

High and Handsome, An Immortal Sixer-shooter did that in style

Baird would have found this a most gratifying moment. The very toy that he had built was telecasting an absolute cracker of a contest between bat and ball. The one-day match between India and England was cresting to a sensational finish, keeping the audience on the edge of the seats.  Being a Scottish man himself, Baird would have liked England to be the victor than the vanquished in a match that held promises of a close finish. It was a run riot. There was sumptuous meal for the batsmen from this batsman’s paradise. It proved right with England posting their highest ever score in India. The seesaw battle for win saw the game swinging in England’s favor, though a distant Indian win was spotted in the horizon. The last lap of the match had begun and it was a solitary run that separated India from victory. Patrolling the crease was a sly fox in Ashwin ready to lay its trap, this time with the bat. Standing like a gladiator with the bat resting on his shoulder and eyes betra...