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So okay
I’ll state off the bat (no pun intended) that this op-ed
article is going to be batsman-centric. But, for a change,
I won’t muse much on the state of Indian cricket. Rather
on a man whose current batting form should be sending
shivers down the spines of most Indian cricket fans. Enter
Ricky Ponting, the most relevant batsman in contemporary
cricket. And by contemporary I mean the last six months.
If that’s too short for anyone’s attention, consider
this: in the past six months two major batting records
have been eclipsed – the ingenious Brian Lara surpassed
Allan Border to record the highest Test aggregate (11,204
runs), and the Little Master Sachin Tendulkar (10,323
runs) overtook Sunil Gavaskar to record his 35th
test century. But these two are peerless, right? And
we’re used to hearing about them ad
nauseum.
So
what’s the deal with Ricky Ponting? In 7 test matches
since the Ashes loss less than six months ago, Ricky
Ponting has scored 5 centuries. Wait, what was that? Five
centuries! That’s almost a 100+ runs per month. And
if six months is too short, consider this: In the year of
2005, Ponting scored a total of 1,544 runs, second only to
Viv Richards’ world record of 1,710 in 1976. Okay, now
you’re thinking every dog has his day, and Ricky Ponting
has hit form for a year. Big deal, all batsmen go through
a purple patch. Well, whose record did Ponting break? His
own: in 2003, Ponting hit an aggregate of 1,503 runs for
one calendar year. And, if that still doesn’t please
you, then this has to (otherwise skip this article) that
in Ponting's last 52 tests he has scored 5386 runs at a
staggering average of 70.86 with 20 hundreds. In that time
frame he became only the second Australian after Sir
Donald Bradman to score double-centuries in successive
tests (vs. India, no less!) and also only the second
player in history, after Bradman, to score 3
double-centuries in a calendar year.
Recently,
Justin Langer (7,271 runs), Ponting’s contemporary and
Australia’s ace opening batsman wrote in his column that
he would rank Punter (Ponting’s nickname in the Aussie
dressing room) along greats such as Lara and Tendulkar.
What followed was a fascinating argument online on BBC’s
“Have your say” where cricket fans around the world
have opined whether the three can be compared. (Check out:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/4571088.stm).
I must admit reading those comments has served as a
catalyst for this article. But, I’ve always had a
different take on this to begin with. To me, there are
three great batsmen in the modern form of the game. Lara
and Tendulkar are mentioned (and marketed) to suffocating
levels. But over-shadowed for some strange reason has been
Inzamam-ul-Haq (8,052 runs). Sure Inzy has less of an
aggregate than the other two, but to me, he epitomizes the
third possible dimension of batting, i.e. playing the ball
late. Lara is fluent and all-timing, Tendulkar compact and
balanced, and Inzy is just simply majestic, striking the
ball cleanly at the last possible moment, with minimal
fuss. Such talent is rare, and I think statistics aside,
these gifts are what make batsmen great.
Do I
think Ponting rates along with them? Sure, I do. And so
does Rahul Dravid (8,003 runs). In fact, Ponting and
Dravid have the most in common and are currently the
batsmen in form. They both bat at #3. Both have
accumulated 8,000+ test runs, and both have 20+ centuries
in tests. Finally, with Dravid now captain, they both
share that honor too. But Dravid is a technician,
accumulating runs from the trenches. Ponting scores more
briskly, brutalizing bowling attacks in his aggressive,
oft-savage, way. Anyone who quickly dismisses Ponting is
not appreciating his true class. Ponting has never been
given enough attention even by his own countrymen mainly
because of that other monolithic player: Shane Warne.
Tendulkar and Lara are the most relevant players in their
respective countries. And even so, it is interesting to
see the rise of Dravid in the media’s attention and as
India’s darling. Virender Sehwag (3,320 runs) has
captivated many too with his Tendulkar-like attacking
style. And Sourav Ganguly (5,150 runs), well, the less
said the better because he seems to capture the
country’s imagination for altogether different reasons!
As for Lara, he too is like a fading star, and being the
oldest amongst those listed, his time to bid farewell to
cricket is nigh. In fact, he has expressed his desire to
retire after the 2007 World Cup, which in fact takes place
on his home-turf.
Instead
one gets the uneasy feeling that Ricky “Punter”
Ponting has only just hit his stride (again somewhat
similar to Dravid’s gradual maturity). And that should
send shivers down Tendulkar fans because if there is one
batsman hot on his heels to score most test centuries, it
is Punter himself. After his 143* (159 balls) against
South Africa in the final test (following from a first
innings 120), Ponting has raced to 28 test centuries
(8,253 runs), one short of his legendary compatriot
Bradman, and six short of the Little Master. Unless
Tendulkar pulls out of his relative inertia, I predict
Ponting will overtake him in front of our eyes. Not that
it’s a bad thing, I’m just saying. But the little man
himself said that his injury lay-off was torturous, months
spent questioning his ability to even return to the game.
Furthermore, after scoring his 35th century in
the recently concluded test series against Sri Lanka,
Anjali Tendulkar told BBC how relieved her husband was to
have surpassed the record because he was tired of the
constant attention and pressure (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/4516642.stm).
I certainly hope that now, back in the game he loves so
much and free from the shackles of another world-record
benchmark, Tendulkar finds some fresh air to express
himself as Tendulkar the formidable batsman. But to help
him I say let’s all 1 billion of us Indians do our man a
favor. Let’s collectively take our eyes off him and put
them square on Ricky Ponting as he embarks on another year
full of cricket and records unknown. Hopefully he’ll
begin to feel the pressure? Meanwhile, bring on Pakistan,
Shoaib Akhtar et al! It’s time for Tendulkar, Dravid and
co. to score a few runs and keep Punter at bay.
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