Love him or hate him, Ponting will always remain an all-time great

For all those who have grown up watching Cricket during the late 90s and 2000, there were a fewer competitiors on the ground than Ricky Thomas Ponting. A legendary 17-year old career comes to an end as Ricky gears up for his final showdown at Perth where he debuted in 1995, before he bids adieu to the international arena. After all, he was the Punter who defined a complete era of Australian Cricket.

The decission came after a poor run in the ongoing series against the Proteas where Ponting could manage only 20 runs from three innings, but more importantly due to the manner he was getting out. The feet were not moving and body was ageing. And hence, Ponting decided to take matters in his own hands, rather than letting others decide his fate. For the first time in over 15 years, an Ashes team will be without Ponting next year. Ponting would have loved to regain the Ashes after losing it a couple of years back. The downward spiral had started and one could have only guessed if Ponting was on borrowed time.

Ponting has always been a man who people loved to hate. He always carried the bull's eye target on his head whenever it came to statements made in the public or engaging in verbal dues. Beyond Australian media, only a very few were disliked more than him. There was cockiness, a certain body-language which was a Vintage Aussie cricketer, but it was backed up by performance after the another. A bit of everything is required in Cricket and his "arrogance" as people put it was a key ingredient of Australia's recipe of dominance in World Cricket. He brought out ruthlessness in his boys and carried the torch very well after the great Steve Waugh.

No matter how much ill is spoken of him, one could have never denied the credentials of Ricky Ponting as a player. There was always a unique flair in Ponting's batting. He was never too much of a timing guy and critics accused him being vulnerable to top-quality spin, but let’s face it, no such player can ever amass more than 13,000 runs in both the formats. His trademark pull shot was a treat to watch. If a youngster needs to learn the art of playing a pull shot with dominance, Ponting's video will always serve as the best tutorials. Ponting was a severe cutter and puller of the ball but lately, the cuts were being dragged onto the stumps and pulls were being miscued.

When Punter was in flow, he was a synonym for 'delight'. His game was always a fair blend of aggressiveness and cautiousness. Even when he suffered an all-time low in 2001 against Harbhajan Singh's off-spin, he would come out and score heaps and heaps of runs. That, in many people's dictionary, is called greatness. The Tasmanian right-hander was Australia's most successful captain with 44 wins from 77 Tests between 2004 and 2010, although his captaincy never got the praise which his batting did.

My favourite Ponting memory were the back to back double-centuries in Adelaide and Melbourne when India toured in 2003-04. His best always came against India, something which I never liked as a kid but takes me down the memory lane today. Ponting was India's biggest scare after Sanath Jayasuriya. It was as if he always waited for a game against the Indians to recapture his form (latest example would be his hundred against India in the quarter-finals of last year's World Cup).

Ponting experienced the peak many times over his glorified career. A total of six Test centuries in 2005 and 2003 along with seven in 2006 will always remain in the minds of experts. He was the second most century accumulator after Tendulkar during the last ten years.

Just like all great cricketers, he had torrid times as well but he never got written off. Even if it took him time, he came out of a slump to rise up to the top. A once invincible Australian team under him, was starting to lose its momentum and Ponting came in the firing line more often than not. But he always made ammense everytime fingers were starting to point at him.

'Defiant' is what Ricky Ponting was, a great competitor who enriched the game by his feats. He was cheered, booed, adulated and inspected. But Ponting was always more than that. When one thinks of Ponting, they don’t remember him arguing with the umpires over dismissals, making bold comments or pushing Sharad Pawar off stage but for a world-class cricketer who has given exceptional performances all over the world. Throughout his career, he lived on his own terms and even today, left in a dignified manner.