Ponting thunders before the showers

Bleary-eyed after the long haul from Mumbai to Johannesburg, and straight into the crucial match against Australia, I was brought back into complete wakefulness by Ricky Ponting. It is not only opposing teams that the Australian captain has such an effect on: those who enjoy aggressive, innovative, classy batsmanship can never afford to miss a single stroke from him.

Monday’s half-century, as is almost always the case in a Ponting innings, was a mix of supreme finesse and audacity of the highest degree. Polished cover drives interspersed cuts, thrusts and the front-foot pulls that are his hallmark. Moreover, the singles and twos were run hard, putting the fielders always under pressure. Ponting may be pushing 35, but his energy levels remain that of a 25-year old.

There were good contributions from Hussey and Paine, but it was Ponting who stymied the Indian team, desperately seeking a win, after a testing opening spell by Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar. He didn’t go on to make a hundred, beaten by a brilliant direct throw from Gambhir, but succeeded in taking the initiative away with an innings of control and cleverness.

I’ve bet a few times on Ricky Ponting in the past, lost all times, most notably in the 2003 World Cup final when – overcome by a surge of patriotism — I had predicted that he would score less than 10. As it happened, Ponting smashed a brilliant 140 and India’s hopes of winning the title was soon transformed into a pall of gloom over the Wanderers Stadium.

My wallet too was lighter by a hundred bucks, but what the heck, such innings are worth several times over for any spectator. The punts against Ponting, however, have since ceased. Such has been his consistency, that it would be foolhardy to risk further money, the law of averages notwithstanding.

So where does Ponting stand in the list of cricket’s great batsmen? I am not one for rankings, but he would rate very, very high, I would venture. For Australia, he is behind only Sir Don Bradman in average (from those who have played at least 40 Tests), which is extraordinary in itself. In the contemporary game, he may have lost out on critical acclaim to Tendulkar and Lara – but only marginally.

He may not have Tendulkar’s technical certitude nor uses the bat, as Lara would, like a magic wand. Sandwiched between these two geniuses, Ponting has yet managed to match them step-for-step, run-for-run, century-for-century batting with a swashbuckling approach which has made him one of the most dreaded batsmen in the game.

His relationship with Indian players and fans in recent times has been tempestuous, to say the least. He has also lost two successive Ashes series in England and Australia are no longer undisputed world champions. These would have been enough reasons to look for a replacement, but Australia’s selectors have resisted because in these vulnerable times, as former skipper Ian Chappell points out, Ponting’s experience and class seem irreplaceable. Monday’s half-century showed just why.

As I write this, thundershowers over the Centurion ground have abandoned the match, but Ponting has served enough notice that he means business. Dhoni will be hoping that the Aussie skipper’s bat is silenced by Pakistan on Wednesday, which could give India chance of still squeezing into the semis. But seeing Ponting in such form, it would be unwise to bet on this.