 Ricky Ponting has a big point to prove in India
10th Sep 2008 23:04 IST
Agencies
For a man who has scored over 10,000 runs in Test cricket, Ricky Ponting's meagre tally of 172 of that glut of runs on Indian soil is a baffling fact.
The Australian skipper, who has recovered from a wrist surgery, would be keen to set right his poor record when he leads his team to India later this month to engage the hosts in the best-of-four contest for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Ponting, by and far, has had an outstanding international career - having led his country to two World Cup victories in 2003 and 2007, besides having been part of the triumphant 1999 squad led by Steve Waugh.
He's the only current international batsman looking capable of overtaking Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar in the number of Test hundreds when both finish their career.
The Tasmanian stroke-maker has 35 hundreds in 119 Tests as compared to Tendulkar's 39 in 150 and the former, who is also two years younger, currently holds a superb average of 58-plus, nearly four points ahead of Tendulkar.
But all these records may count for little for Indian fans if the Australian skipper fails to deliver with the bat in the Test rubber unlike on previous visits to this country.
Ponting, who has struck two double hundreds against India in home conditions, has not crossed 60 in eight Tests played previously in this country, his best knock having come at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on the 1998 tour.
Somehow, an Indian visit has seen the fine Aussie batsman unable to stamp his authority on the bowlers, his abysmal average of 12.28 being an ample indication of his struggles in the past.
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