A unique century for Punter
The wondeful game of cricket has over the years witnessed legends of different origins. From the great Sir Donald Bradman to Colonel C.K. Naidu, from Sir Wally Hammond to Sir Vivian Richards, from Sir Gary Sobers to Sachin Tendulkar, they have all passed the biggest Test with flying colours. The advent of ODIs in mid seventies to the now popular Twenty20s has helped cricket conquer newer vistas.
But Test cricket continues to remain the epitome of excellence where every player wants to do well. And to have been part of 100 Test victories is an achievement that will take some beating. Ricky Ponting has just done the unthinkable. The legendary right-handed batter crossed this milestone in the recently concluded Galle Test against Sri Lanka last week.
The world first saw him on the WACA wicket in Perth during Sri Lanka’s tour Down Under in December 1995 when a young Ponting was part of his first Test victory, against a team that was led by Arjuna Ranatunga. The Mark Taylor-led team had just begun to grip the cricketing world with its exploits. It was a start of decade that would witness one-sided Ashes contests, victories over India at home, beating India in their own territory in 2004 to gate-crashing the Calypso parties in the Caribbean. The Australian juggernaut also went on to lift two successive World Cups (1999 and 2003) in this period to stamp their supremacy.
Punter, as he is fondly called, has been part of innumerable victories for the Baggy Green, and the team’s unimaginable success was a result of some stupendous shows by a side that was invincible. Mark’s Taylor-made team was taken forward by the shrewd Steve Waugh and when Punter took charge of the side in 2004, he just had to oil up the unit to achieve the desired results. The results were almost always in Australia’s favour because they played to win and desired nothing less.
The retirements of stalwarts such as Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Glenn McGrath, and Justin Langer literally broke the backbone of the side and Punter struggled to maintain the desired results. Soon, Ashes was lost, the World Cup was given away and Punter had to step down. However, he continued to contribute with the willow and the century against India in the quarterfinal of the World Cup this year was an apt proof of that.
The win against Sri Lanka on the dustbowl at Galle, his 100th, should bring the famous grin back on Punter’s face and should reignite him to achieve further feats in what has been an awesome 16-year reign on the cricketing world. A sweet sixteen shall we say!
