While Mahela, Sanga still hog Test limelight

Ponting stands out as Mr Incredible

In a decade long analysis that has made Australian skipper Ricky Ponting ride a streak of gold in taking one of cricket’s illustrious all time places as ‘Player of the Decade’, something for Sri Lanka to still smile about, with Mahela Jayawardene and skipper Kumar Sangakkara hogging the cream places of No.3 and 4 respectively in the Reliance Mobile player batting Test rankings.
While conspicuously the golden boy of the decade Ponting is No.7 in Test rankings and No.4 in ODI rankings, Jayawardene (836) and Sangakkara (835) have done their country proud considering a not so bright 2009 as a whole added to which Sri Lanka still receiving step motherly treatment as far as tour itineraries go. Where Sri Lanka significantly languishes is in the ODI batting rankings with Sangakkara who once took top billing last year has just scraped through to take the last slot of the top ten. This is indeed bad reading for an island nation, once World Cup winners who basked in the glory of one-day cricket with our decade long bowling hero Muttiah Muralitharan slipping off the radar of ODI rankings altogether though managing to retain fourth place in Test rankings as the only Lankan to make the numbers; once the king at both levels whose invincibility has lost its sting. Incidentally, South Africa’s D. Steyn (852) heads the Test bowling rankings. In the ODI rankings only Nuwan Kulasekera from Sri Lanka has made the mark at No.5 with a ranking of 682 in a table headed by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori (719).
In the batting, by the latest rankings as of January 18, Jayawardene and Sangakkara with just a point separating the two continue to remain the torchbearers of our batting department; a shot in the arm for the old brigade that has also found the clout of a completely transformed batsman in Tillekeratne Dilshan in the year gone by and leading up to now by some breathtaking batting feats that made him the Twenty 20 “Player of the Year’.
Of course, of all the glamour achievements in cricket in a true sense of the game can there be anything more deserving than dwelling on the coveted achievement by Ricky Ponting. At age 35, Ponting has in the last decade glittered batting to heights that make sweet music to the connoisseur; so much so that the Australian captain has crowned himself as the contemporary ‘prince of batting’ in the process relegating the all-time king Sachin Tendulkar into second place. Testimony of achievement - the incredible feat of scoring more Test runs (9458) and hundreds (38) from 107 matches between 2000 and 2009 in both forms of the game; only batsman to go past the 9000-run mark in Tests and ODIs. Doing so between 2000 and 2009 at an average of 58.38 with 32 of his 38 centuries reeled off during that period. In 2005 Ponting scored 1544 runs with three twin centuries in five months joining Sunil Gavaskar as the only batsman to do so.
If his batting has been simply electrifying so has been Ricky Thomas Ponting’s captaincy. His 20 Test wins from 21outings borders on the incredible at that level. These conquests included a 5-0 clean sweep over arch enemies England in the famous Ashes series.
Ponting’s career did take a dip, losing the ashes to England, but redeemed himself reclaiming it back home the following year. The last year also saw South Africa and India take away some of his gloss through some series defeats at both levels of the game. But then Ponting has been quick to work on his flaws in an admirable comeback trail that has seen Australia now at No.1 ranking in Tests. Though of course, he is yet to salvage the top spot Australia surrendered to South Africa and now taken by India.
Significantly, Ponting has rebuilt a potentially World Cup winning side with the big one up in 2011.
And experts marvel that only age stands between him and Tendulkar in surpassing the Indian’s magical records.