One of the most successful captains ever.
One of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket, Ricky Ponting has followed the recent trend and picked his all-time XI. The selection criteria entitles Ponting to pick only the players with whom he had played with or against during his playing days.
Ponting opted to open the batting with his two Australian mates Justin Langer and Mathew Hayden. He really loved batting below those two left-handers during his illustrious career. Both had different batting styles but were extremely successful at the highest level and their combination proved to be a nightmare for bowlers around the world.
At 3 he picks Jacques Kallis, one of the greatest ever all-rounders to have played the game. With 40 centuries and a whole lot of wickets to his tally it’s very difficult to leave this guy out from an All-time XI team.
The No.4 position is kept for the “Little Master” Sachin Tendulkar against whom Ponting had many forgetful encounters. Tendulkar had a great record against the Aussies and there is hardly any World XI which can be picked without this great man. His sheer longevity in the game sets him apart from everyone else.
Another guy who gave nightmares to Ponting during his captaincy days comes in at No.5. The left-handed great from West Indies Brian Lara was one of the most destructive batsmen during his playing days and gave the toughest time to any opposition captain.
Ponting chose Kumar Sangakkara to captain his side. One of the modern greats of the game, Sangakkara won plenty of matches for his team with the bat and gloves and had an excellent cricketing brain.
Arguably the greatest wicket keeper batsman of all time Adam Gilchrist comes in at No.7. There is very little to say about this great man as he revolutionised the concept of a wicket keeper batsman. His destructive approach was a nightmare for the bowlers and after Gilchrist burst onto the scene, all the teams wanted a wicket keeper in the team who could contribute like the Australian did with both the gloves and bat.
In the bowling department, Ponting has gone with 3 fast bowlers and a lone spinner.
The greatest leg spinner of all time Shane Warne comes in at No.8. The art and skill he had as a leg spinner is quite remarkable and he picked wickets at will.
Following Shane Warne, the former Aussie captain has gone with Wasim Akram, the most skilled fast bowler he played against. Not only he was threatening with the new ball, he was as deadly with the old ball and was at his best with the reverse swing.
Curtly Ambrose comes in at No.10. The lanky West Indies fast bowler used to land the ball perfectly more often than not and was deadly with his inswingers and was one of the toughest bowlers Ponting played against.
Last but not the least comes in Glenn McGrath. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest fast bowlers of the modern era and would be Ponting’s primary bowler any day while captaining his side.
Ponting’s XI: Langer, Hayden, Kallis, Tendulkar, Lara, Sangakkara (c), Gilchrist (wk), Warne, Akram, Ambrose, McGrath.
