Being a great cricketer and being a great captain are two different things. Ricky Ponting is a rare cricketer who achieved great success in both the roles. Ponting was as great a captain as he was a batsman. His immense records testify to this. Ponting is Australia’s most successful batsman and the greatest captain in cricket history.
Born on 19 December 1974 in Launceston, Australia, Ponting started his career in ODI format in 1995 against South Africa. His last match was against South Africa in November 2012, and that was a Test match. At the beginning of his career, he was like an ordinary player, but over time, his continuous hard work on his game and technique made Ponting one of the great batsmen of the cricket world.
Ricky Ponting scored 13,378 runs in 168 Tests, scoring 41 centuries and 52 half-centuries. The highest score was 257. Scored 13,704 runs in 364 innings of 375 ODIs, scoring 30 centuries and 82 half-centuries. The highest score was 164. Ponting scored 401 runs in 16 innings of 17 T20 matches, scoring 2 half-centuries. 98 not out was his highest score. He is the highest run scorer for Australia in Test and ODI. He also has the highest number of centuries in his name for Australia.
Ponting is the only player to score centuries in the ODI World Cup quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. Ponting is the only player to be a part of victory in more than 100 test matches. He is the first batsman to score a century in ODI against all Test match playing countries.
Ricky Ponting is counted among Australia’s greatest captains. During his era, be it Test or ODI, Australia was unbeatable. Was the captain of Australia in ODI format from 2002 to 2011. He took over the captaincy of the Test format in 2004. Ponting made Australia win the 2003 and 2007 ODI World Cup under his captaincy. Apart from this, Australia also won the 2006 and 2009 Champions Trophy under the captaincy of Ricky Ponting. Ponting was the player of the series in the 2009 Champions Trophy.
Ponting captained Australia in 77 test matches. In this, Australia won 48 test matches, 13 were drawn, while the team had to face defeat in 16 matches. This veteran cricketer captained Australia in 230 ODIs and won 165 matches. The team had to face defeat in 51 matches. The results of the remaining matches did not come. Whereas in 17 T20 matches, under the captaincy of Ponting, Australia won 7 matches and lost 10 matches. Ponting is the world’s most successful captain in the ODI format. He is Australia’s most successful Test captain.
After retirement, Ponting is active in the field of coaching and is achieving success in this field also. The final of Punjab Kings 2025 in IPL was played under his coaching. Punjab played the final after 11 years. In the past, coaching has made MI champions. Delhi has also played the IPL final under his coaching.
After looking at the statistics of a batsman, captain and coach, it can be said that it is difficult to be Ricky Ponting.
