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| Tuesday, 16 April 2002 |
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Ponting has proved his capabilities ? by ELMO RODRIGOPULLE Ricky Ponting has proved a superb replacement for Steve Waugh as captain of Australia. He showed his capabilities in no uncertain terms by leading the kangaroos to a 5-1 thrashing of the South Africans in the recently concluded one-day series. There was a bit of apprehension when Ponting was given the reins. But in his first outing as captain, he has proved the faith the selectors had in him by leading from the front and trouncing the South Africans in their own backyard. The next World Cup is to be played in SA next year. If the form the Ausssies have shown on this tour is a pointer as to who the winner would be, then the Aussies under Ponting go out hot favourites. Under Steve Waugh the Australians continued their Test match winning streak by beating the South Africans 2-1 in SA after beating them 3-0 in the three match Test series played in Australia. With the Aussies failing to make it to the final in a triangular which also featured New Zealand and South Africa and with the Waugh twins Steve (captain) and brother Mark showing indifferent form, the selectors made the bold move of stripping Steve and replacing him with Ricky Ponting. One expected Pointing to have a baptism of fire as captain considering that he was fronting up to the Proteas on their home turfs. The South Africans smarting after their defeats in Tests were expected to come out firing all cylinders in a bid to gain sweet revenge. Back in the SA side was skipper Shaun Pollock, one of the best one day players in the scene. But the Aussies under Ponting sans the Waugh brothers kept bombarding the South Africans from the first ball of the first one-dayer and it was after bashing the homesters 5-0 that they lost the final game which was a Duckworth/Lewis decider because of rain. Ponting thus showed that he was the cricketing brain that can keep the Aussies on top of world cricket in both versions of the game. When it comes to thinking and planning strategy, Ponting has proved that he is second to none. He is on record saying that even when he was not captain, yet he use to think like a captain when on the field. Now this is good thinking and all budding cricketers of today should try to emulate Ponting's game. As a fielder he is brilliant and is on par with Jonty Rhodes the South African champion fielder. With his excellent fielding he is able to raise the fielding levels of the whole team. And when it comes to batting there are no inhibitions in him. He believes that the ball is there to be hit and when he hits it, it stays it. When in the mood he can be devastating with the bat and the South Africans bowler will vouch for the bashing they gave them in running up big scores. The wickets in South Africa were not as fast as they used to be. Probably the hosts would have slowed them down what with Glen McGrath, Bruce Lee, Jason Gillespie and Andy Bichel in the Aussie ranks. But the host might have different ideas by the time World Cup comes around and the behaviour of the wickets may change. South Africa too will be one of the fancied teams to win the WC because they are playing at home. But the Aussies by blasting them have shown the chinks in their armour and made them re-think their play and line up for the WC. As for the Aussies they are a fine blend of youth and experience and what is interesting and encouraging is that they have a fine crop of allrounders which no other team can boast of. The Aussies will not be satisfied until they retain the World Cup they won in England under Steve Waugh. When World Cup time comes around next year they will be fine tuned and will step on it from the first ball and no team fronting up to them will have any respite. But then one must not forget that cricket is a funny game.
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