Goodbye RT Ponting 'the ODI player' - you were a legend.

[uvelocity]

I think you've had one too many lightices buddy!

 

[ankitj]

I never believed in bull**** sentimentality. all the crap about "they should ask "why now"and not "why not" or "leaving when you are still in demand" or in choosing the "right time to go" is all just **** talk as far as I am concerned. You live once; better do what you love doing as long as you can. When a kid picks up a cricket bat for the first time he wants to score as much as he can. he wants his team to win. he doesnt worry about his personal average dipping or lesser bowlers getting him out over time. that is how it should always be.

ricky ponting gave it all. and australia benefitted from it. he wont go to grave wondering whether he should have pushed himself harder. he played till he was drained of the last drop of sweat from his body and had to be dragged away from the field. so did border. and murali. and miandad. and viv richards. and sobers. it doesnt matter that the personal achievements of these champions varied in their last seasons. irrespective of stupid stats they were all equally respected, loved and feared till they walked back into the pavilion. and they all knew deep down that they could do nothing more in the game.

curtains on one of the greatest careers of all time. cricket fans all over the world are privileged to have seen punter in full form for many seasons. now, goodluck to him for life after cricket.

Agree completely with this view. It applies to many other scenarios like should a cricketer make certain statement in public etc. We should stop expecting same behaviour from everyone. Sportsmen are humans after all and different humans deal with things differently. So long as they don't do anything illegal, we ought to cut them some slack and be less judgmental. On the retirement thing, up to the players to quit while on top or keep playing till they can lift a bat.

 

[Trumpers_Ghost]

How good was Viv's fielding? Because if you take Ponting's fielding into account there's a strong case for him to have been the best ODI player ever. He's certainly up there in the top three fielders of his generation and the top two batsmen (I'd go as far as saying the best batsman personally, but I know Tendulkar fans would disagree).

A bit long at 30 mins but shows some ponting runouts Ricky Ponting compilation- THE 'RUN OUT' GENIUS! 30 mins of his mastery. DIRECT HIT KING. - YouTube

Tried but couldn't find footage of Viv fielding. But he was as much a genius in the field as he was with the bat. I recall reading of him making 3 run outs in a world cup match (semi-final?) in the 70's.

Ponting you were a gun. Seemed everytime I went to the MCG for an ODI Ponting would reward me with a ton.

The time had come. Time to drift off into the fog - and find that guy from the beef'n bourban and give him a good smack back.

 

[Spikey]

Tried but couldn't find footage of Viv fielding. But he was as much a genius in the field as he was with the bat. I recall reading of him making 3 run outs in a world cup match (semi-final?) in the 70's.

no it was the 75 final



and they were all batsmen in the top 4

 

[Arachnodouche]

there is no way in hell Ponting will go down the better ODI bat than Tendulkar. And I'm not even one of the latter's fanatics. Revisionism at its best.

 

[sledger]

Why not?

 

[Arachnodouche]

I think the burden of justification should be on ones rating Ponting over Tendulkar in the ODI sweepstakes. Anyway, Ponting's farewell thread isn't the place for such petty quibbles.

 

[sledger]

Nah, reckon Ponting is better tbh.

 

[Shri]

Of course he is.

 

[Furball]

I'd have Tendulkar as my number 1 player but I don't think the premier batsman from the greatest ever side should be so readily discounted as an option.

 

[ganeshran]

Tendulkar is easily better in ODIs. In tests its very close between SRT, Lara and Punter though.

Ponting's peak in both ODIs and Tests was marvellous and I dont think any other player in the world came close to having such an extended run of form

 

[Viscount Tom]

As an overall player Ponting is ahead of both. Contributed more in terms of what he did with his fielding something which the other two are streets behind as.

As a batsman its more up for debate, but of the 3 Ponting would be my first choice.

 

[Prince EWS]

Tendulkar is easily better in ODIs. In tests its very close between SRT, Lara and Punter though.

Ponting's peak in both ODIs and Tests was marvellous and I dont think any other player in the world came close to having such an extended run of form

I honestly don't think Ponting is even close as a batsman in either format but I'm a bit of a longevity junkie which is always going to make me pro-Tendulkar when it comes to modern batsmen.

 

[honestbharani]

lol.. feels kinda silly to have this debate here. Maybe make it a seperate thread, mods?

 

[Prince EWS]

lol.. feels kinda silly to have this debate here. Maybe make it a seperate thread, mods?

The fact that Tests are coming up is probably something we could do without especially since we have another thread for that, but I think it's natural to discuss his standing in the ODI game in this thread now that his ODI career is probably over.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Definitely not as good a batsman as Tendulkar in the format, but when you talk about the player he is elevated into that sort of class, especially because of his fielding. Plus captaincy, and record in big games (not saying that others/Tendulkar hasn't done it in big games, just that Ricky's has been pretty darn awesome) and he can probably be put in the same class of "player" as Tendulkar, Richards, etc.

 

[Dan]

Definitely not as good a batsman as Tendulkar in the format, but when you talk about the player he is elevated into that sort of class, especially because of his fielding. Plus captaincy, and record in big games (not saying that others/Tendulkar hasn't done it in big games, just that Ricky's has been pretty darn awesome) and he can probably be put in the same class of "player" as Tendulkar, Richards, etc.

Can't forget Ponting's bowling

RICKY PONTING - GREAT ALL ROUNDER- so many wickets - YouTube

 

[Ikki]

If you consider everything about them as players, then you'd have to say Ponting with this batting, fielding and captaincy is superior.

 

[silentstriker]

So say he gets 10 points for batting, 6 for fielding, and -10 for captaincy...that's not a positive, is it?

 

[silentstriker]

Oh and LOL@the idea of Tendulkar vs. Ponting in ODIs...