Australia’s all-time great captain and one of the world’s greatest batsmen, Ricky Ponting, is celebrating his 50th birthday today. Born on 19 December 1974 in Tasmania, Ponting led the Australian team in ODI cricket from 2002 to 2011 and in Test matches from 2004 to 2011. Under Ponting’s captaincy, Australia won two consecutive World Cup titles one after the other. Under Ponting’s leadership, Australia won the 2003 and 2007 World Cups. Ponting retired from international cricket in December 2012.
Let’s take a look at his achievements:
Scores Made – Ricky Ponting, one of the world’s greatest batsmen of all time, is one of only four players to score more than 13,000 Test runs. Only Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis have achieved this feat. After Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting is the batsman who has scored the most Test runs with 13,378 runs. He is the third highest run scorer in ODI cricket. Ponting has scored 13,704 runs.
Among the great captains – Ricky Ponting is one of the most successful captains in the world, with a win percentage of 62.3 percent in 77 Test matches. There is no doubt that Ponting has been one of the most successful captains of ODI. Under his leadership, Australia won two World Cup titles. Ponting has captained the Australian team in 230 ODI matches and his win percentage is 76.14 percent. Ricky Ponting left school in 10th to pursue a career in cricket.
Most runs as a captain in ODI history – Ricky Ponting scored 30 ODI centuries, the most by an Australian. Under his captaincy, Ponting has made Australia win 26 consecutive matches in the World Cup. Ricky Ponting finished the 2006–07 series as the highest run-scorer in an Ashes series against England at home. He scored 576 runs including two centuries. Ricky Ponting holds the record for scoring the most ODI runs as a captain. He scored 8497 runs.
World Champion – Ricky Ponting is the player with most ODI captaincy (230). Ricky Ponting holds the record for playing most matches in the World Cup. He played 46 matches. Ricky Ponting scored 1743 runs with the help of five centuries in the World Cup. Ricky Ponting has played the most matches (29) as captain in the ICC World Cup. Ricky Ponting holds the record for most catches in the World Cup, 28.
Other interesting statistics about the cricketer – Ricky Ponting made his Test and ODI debut in 1995. He became the first cricketer in history to win more than 100 tests. Ricky Ponting married Rhianna Jennifer in 2002. Ricky Ponting is jointly at the top with Steve Waugh in terms of playing most Tests for Australia. Both have played 168 test matches. Ricky Ponting’s first income from cricket was not due to the magic of the bat. He was a member of the scoreboard crew and worked Sheffield Shield matches. Due to this he got 20 Australian dollars every day.