Hailed as one of the rarities of modern day cricket, Ricky Ponting, the present day Australian captain is swimming against the tide to regain his lost glory and the match at Adelaide could well be a prelude to his swan song. Used to hogging the limelight at the slightest of opportunities, Ponting is now on a slippery slope that could bring an unceremonious end to his career. The Australian selectors mean business, and with one of the experienced bowlers left to ponder on his performance in the dressing room, the selectors have sent a loud and clear message for the non-performing heroes.
The path to Australian captaincy wasn’t strewn with roses, though Ponting had been predicted as a future Australian captain when Steve Waugh was busy marshalling his troops to reassert the Australian supremacy. From a bar-hopping and a brawl-inviting cricketer, Ponting had to fight his way out to cut down his hedonistic pursuits to stay in the race for the Australian captaincy.
With the first ball dismissal at Adelaide, Ponting is not certainly at his best, and with the burdening captaincy adding salt to the wound, Ponting might just be on the verge of a collapse, unwarranted of a cricketer of his standards. The Australians, in general, find it hard to swallow the success of the opponents and Ponting was no exception to this rule as he had his finger pointed at the Brisbane wicket for a shoddy bowling performance in the second innings of the Brisbane test when Cook cooked the Australian bowlers to offer a delectable feast to the many English fans the world over.
With England sitting pretty at the Adelaide, and with Cook on 48 and Trott on 47, on their way to agonize the Australians again, Ponting has a herculean task ahead. Is Adelaide Test the last straw for Ponting?
Australians are tough and they battle it out to the last, and let’s hope that Ponting is equally tough to weather the storms and emerge victorious from this pathetic position.
