THE PACKAGE OF RICKY PONTING

An innings and 157 runs... that's a crushing margin! And it sounds worse when it is the margin of victory for a visiting team in an Ashes Test match!

England have retained the Ashes and will look to win this series against Australia when they travel to Sydney for the New Year Test. With this loss, we know for sure that there might be massive changes to the Australian set up post Sydney Test... maybe even before it. Ricky Ponting is almost certainly playing his last Test series as an Australian captain.

When Ponting took over the full time Australian captaincy from Steve Waugh after the Sydney Test of 2004 against India, he must have hoped that he too would one day get the sort of farewell that was given to his former captain. Ponting may still take a lap of honour on someone's shoulders after his final Test... but when he does bid adieu, it will be as a member of an Australian side that are no longer the world beaters and champions that Steve Waugh had led till his final Test.

I have always looked at Ponting with two different views... one is the batsman and the other is the captain.

As a batsman, Ricky Ponting is par excellence. He is one of the best in the era he played in... and at the time of his peak, he was probably the best in the world at that time. He's played at that crucial No. 3 position... and done complete justice to it. Yes, there are criticisms and weaknesses. The weakness at the start of his innings when he is fidgety and tends to feel for the ball outside his off stump by planting his front foot forward, the weakness against quality spin bowling, the recently discovered weakness against the short-pitches bowling... but then, they all have their weaknesses.

The criticisms have also been there... that he cannot adapt his game to suit the declining standards of the rest of his team, that he is very rigid and does not want to change his game, that he was a great batsman only when he had other great cricketers in the team with him...

As a captain, Ricky Ponting, in my opinion, has been overrated a lot of times. The outstanding statistics that he possesses as the captain of Australia would have been possessed by any other captain had he gotten the two resources called Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath for the majority of his captaincy career... not to forget the great compliments called Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist.

He has not been inspirational enough to turn an ordinary side into a strong and forceful unit. Yes, the team under him has always fought tooth and nail... but fighting is just a part of the story... delivering the results is what matters more. Ponting is on the verge of becoming just the second Australian skipper to lose three Ashes series, first to lose one at home in almost two and a half decades... he does not have a series win as a captain in England and he does not have a single Test win as a captain in India. One may say that he almost managed one at Mohali earlier this year, but even if he had, 1 Test win in India as a captain of the Australian side in 7 attempts would not have been too flattering either.

I, for one, have criticised him at every available opportunity... and I guess, I will always have some criticisms about him. But right now, I am not going to dwell further on those.

It is sad to see Ponting in the state he is in currently. The team under him is not good enough to challenge a strong side... even at home. His batting is going nowhere under the pressures of leading a mediocre side. For a man who is so used to winning (he has played 99 Tests in which his side has won... that's one world record that will be hard to break!), it is a sorry figure that he cuts out in the field these days.

Yes, that sadness disappears and contempt returns when I see Ponting arguing with the umpire over a decision that is not going to be overturned no matter what he says. The old feeling of frustration returns when I read his 'apology' over the incident where he still maintains that he was right in thinking the batsman was out. That feeling of pity erodes when I still see that cockiness in him on the field as if he is still the leader of a champion side that can win from any situation.

But it is short lived... because now even I am coming to the realisation that Ricky Ponting, like all the other players, comes as a package. The great batting, the outstanding fielding, that cocky attitude, that appetite for a fight, those hollow words when he talks about the 'spirit of cricket'... all that and more.

He is coming to the end of his career, and whenever I may think back about him, I will have confused feelings. He has never been amongst my favourite cricketers... but I still don't want to see him go out of the game when he is down. He has been a champion player, and champions shouldn't go out this way!

5 - 0

Ricky Ponting was recently asked about Australia's chances of regaining the Ashes with another 5-0 whitewash of England at home during the upcoming summer.

His reply: "It's absolutely possible. There's no reason why not. It's all in our hands. It's how well we play and how well we take charge of different situations."

What rubbish! He needs to take lessons from his former teammate Glenn McGrath on how to sound convincing while making such predictions. This is what McGrath had said before the 2006-07 Ashes held Down Under: "I reckon it will be 5-0 this time. To say anything else would be negative. If we're going to win 2-1, or 3-2, which games are we going to lose?"

© Getty Images

That is confidence for you! And why not, he knew that he and his team had the ability... and eventually, he helped deliver that 5-0 result! I doubt if Ponting will manage anything even close to it this time round!

SACHIN TENDULKAR > RICKY PONTING

Australia have a win... They restore some of their "pride"! Captain Ponting and vice - captain Clarke get 90s. And as the Cricinfo commentary put aptly... Clarke did not manage to reach his 100 since he became a victim of his own inabilities to play the big shots.

During his innings of 92, Ricky Ponting became just the 3rd batsman in One Day International cricket to cross the landmark of 13000 runs (after Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jaisuriya). Great achievement, that!

However, over the past few years, Ponting's form (especially in Tests) has gone down. He is no longer the feared No. 3 player that he used to be in his prime... the early 2000s. In fact, ever since he crossed the landmark of 10000 ODI runs, Ponting's Test average has been less than 50. So I thought that I will do this little comparison of how the progression through ODI landmarks has affected the Test form of the two great champion batsmen of our times... Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting.

SACHIN TENDULKAR:

10K to 11K ODI runs - 7 Tests, 699 runs @ 69.90 (2 100s, 4 50s)
11K to 12K ODI runs - 16 Tests, 1392 runs @ 54.20 (4 100s, 5 50s)
12K to 13K ODI runs - 6 Tests, 454 runs @ 50.44 (1 100, 2 50s)
13K to 14K ODI runs - 18 Tests, 1121 runs @ 48.73 (3 100s, 4 50s)
14K to 15K ODI runs - 8 Tests, 536 runs @ 44.66 (2 100s, 2 50s)
15K to 16K ODI runs - 9 Tests, 860 runs @ 57.33 (2 100s, 6 50s)
16K to 17K ODI runs - 13 Tests, 991 runs @ 45.04 (3 100s, 4 50s)
17K to 17598 ODI runs - 7 Tests, 674 runs @ 84.25 (5 100s, 1 50)

RICKY PONTING:

10K to 11K ODI runs - 6 Tests, 408 runs @ 45.33 (1 100, 3 50s)
11K to 12K ODI runs - 20 Tests, 1569 runs @ 43.58 (4 100s, 9 50s)
12K to 13K ODI runs - 8 Tests, 583 runs @ 44.84 (1 100, 3 50s)

So, from the mark of 10000 ODI runs to his current peak of 17598, Sachin Tendulkar has been able to maintain a very decent form... his average dropping below 50 only in 3 such stretches and just once below 45. Two of such occasion (13K to 14K and 14K to 15K) coincided with his injury troubles... back, fingers, tennis elbow, et cetera.

On the other hand, Ponting's Test form has just gone southwards ever since he crossed the 10000 landmark in ODIs during the World Cup 2007. His average has never been above 50... and just once has bettered 45. His troubles have coincided more with Australia's lack of domination in cricket rather than any injury troubles of his own. His troubles, curiously, started with the retirements of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. Or not so curious, is it?

I have been of the belief for a long time now that Ricky Ponting's good performances with the bat have come on the back of the knowledge that his team has great batsmen in the lineup to follow him and bowlers to skittle out or who've already skittled out the opposition for a meagre total. In such a context, Sachin Tendulkar's knocks, particularly during the first half of his career, have come when he's been the lone fighter for India. Complete dependency creates additional pressure. Ponting has succumbed to it more often than not. Tendulkar has not.

Such statistics and numbers sometimes make me marvel at the contributions of guys like Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul... the lone fighters in West Indies squads for many long years. Nevertheless, as this post is basically a comparison of SRT and RTP, I guess my choice is clear!

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE GAME GETS DIRTY

On Straight Points, I read about how Australians seem to react in an unruly manner when they are under pressure. After reading the article, I went into my pensieve, recalling all the incidents I remembered of Australia's behavioural troubles.

The most recent one, obviously, is the one involving Mitchell Johnson and Scott Styris. As rightly pointed out by Straight Points, Australia was the team under pressure as Styris was looking to pull of the chase comfortably, which he eventually did.

In the third Test at Perth on the West Indies' tour, Shane Watson was fined for his send-off celebrations after Chris Gayle's wicket. And Mitchell Johnson featured again, alongwith Brad Haddin this time, in an altercation with Sulieman Benn. This came at a time when the team from Caribbean had shown the Aussies in the previous Test that they are not going to be pushovers.

The next one I recalled was the 'elbow' incident between Shane Watson and Gautam Gambhir. This happenned at a time when the Australian bowling attack was being clobbered to all parts of the Ferozeshah Kotla at New Delhi after being 1-0 down in the series.

Then there is the very infamous 'Monkeygate' scandal between Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh. This again came at a time when a partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh was flourishing, and had put the Australian bowling under pressure.

In May 2003, in the match where West Indies created the world record of successfully chasing the highest 4th innings target against Australia at Antigua, there were a couple of incidents I recall. For these two incidents, I searched the Wisden Almanack's report on this match and here are a couple of quotes:

"On the second morning, Lara walked out to bat in a bellicose frame of mind, had exchanges with three Australians before he faced his first ball, from Lee, and duly hammered it over point for six. Lara spent the first half-hour of his innings arguing furiously with his tormentors, and at one stage stood toe to toe with Waugh, who had moved to short cover to pepper him with more chat, causing umpire Shepherd to intervene briefly. It was an unedifying spectacle, though no further action was taken by umpires or referee."

"As Sarwan approached a mature hundred, there were signs that Australia were losing the plot. McGrath, who started the verbal war, became utterly incensed at Sarwan's riposte - he apparently referred to McGrath's wife. After a set-to with the batsman, he wagged his finger at umpire Shepherd, demanding he get involved. Despite this, no official action was taken, though once pictures were beamed round the world both the ACB and ICC castigated the Australians and called on them immediately to mend their ways."

James Sutherland, the then Chief Executive of Cricket Australia (then Australian Cricket Board), told the media: "It's all very well to be playing the game in the right spirit when things are going your way, but if things are not going your way, that's when the real test is on. If you can't carry yourself in the true spirit of the game at those times, perhaps you need to have a good look at yourself."

And the last incident that I recalled, perhaps the most infamous of them all, one that occured long before I was even born, was the Chappell brothers' underarm incident. New Zealand needed six to tie the match. Even if Greg had not instructed his brother Trevor to go for the underarm approach, its doubtful that Brian McKechnie, the Kiwi on strike, would have hit the ball in the stands. It was the first ball he was facing in the innings and he was not renowned for any pyrotechnics with the bat (his career strike rate in ODIs: 37.24 without a single 6 and just four 4s in his till then 13 ODIs). Yet, Australia slumped to a new low in gamesmanship with that one act.

In this article, I have just pointed out the occasions when Australian behaviour on the cricket field created controversies off it. I have restrained myself from being extremely judgmental. However, I must state that I cannot think of any other team that has so many cases of apparent unruliness when the tide is not in their favour. When I think of the Indian team (there are certain controversial characters in there too), such cases come out only when they are on top. I guess it would make a good case study, if you are interested in psychology.