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Ponting should be inspired by Sachin: Mark Taylor


SachDan

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Ricky Ponting should look to the Indian marvel Sachin Tendulkar for inspiration as the lights fade on his once formidable batting, according to the former Australian captain Mark Taylor. Having trained exhaustively for an Indian Test tour that begins a summer also featuring the Ashes and next year's 50-over World Cup, Ponting is aware he needs to score more consistently than over the past two years if his team are to clasp what are arguably cricket's three most prized trophies. Over that time Ponting's average has hovered around 40, as opposed to a career record comfortably above 50 - a decline his team can ill-afford. He made a below par start in Australia's opening tour match against the Indian Board President's XI in Chandigarh, making 42 in the first innings and only nine in the second when his pet pull shot was taken at square leg from the bowling of the teenager Jaidev Unadkat. Taylor, who pulled out of a famous death-dive with the bat to enjoy a fruitful final two years in the late 1990s, said 35-year-old Ponting would not get any better but was still capable of match-turning innings'. "He is not getting any better," Taylor told the Indian daily DNA. "He may no longer be the batsman he was in his late 20s but he is still a very good batsman. Honestly, Ponting's best is behind him but he is still capable of scoring big hundreds." There was a time when Ponting might have caught Tendulkar in terms of Test runs and centuries, but the Indian has enjoyed a renaissance at the same time as the Australian captain's prowess has faded. Ponting has 39 Test hundreds, nine short of Tendulkar's 48. In mitigation, Taylor pointed out that the weight of leading a young and evolving Australian team was a burden that could bring down any batsman. "I think Sachin has had a rebirth," said Taylor. "He is really batting at his best and that can be a sort of inspiration for Ponting. It might be difficult for him to overhaul Sachin's number of centuries because the Indian master is lengthening the gap between them. "But Ponting has this job of rebuilding the Australian side. The current Australian side is very much his. "Seniors like Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Matthew Hayden have all gone. It is a much younger side. "I think Ponting's focus has moved a little bit away from his personal milestones. "In that sense, Sachin is fortunate. He does not have to worry about captaincy. That is probably the reason why he is making hundreds." Taylor said Ponting still had the challenge ahead of him to bring his team out of a phase in which good performances were too often undermined by the odd bad session. "Ponting's is a young Australian side which plays very good cricket but is not consistent," he said. "I'm sure Ponting would be working on this area to reduce the number of bad sessions. "They tend to lose five or six wickets in a session when they could do well by losing just two or three." link

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It's true that Ponting's performance perhaps suffers as a result of his role as captain. It's also true though that he is no longer the same batsman' date=' he gets out too cheaply far too often but as Taylor said he is capable of big knocks, match winning ones.[/quote'] If he was not the captain, he would have been long gone from the team due to form he has showed over last 18 months. Hayden and Gilly if they were captains, they also would have played couple of years more.
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^But to an extent I do agree to what Taylor has said. After the retirement of the stalwarts he along with Clarke and Hussey were the only batsmen who had to steady the ship. And being the captain this responsibility thrusted on him even more fiercely. I am not defending Ponting for his lack of big scores but I think too much had been demanded of him being the #1 batsman in his side along with being the skipper. Though Sachin has been always under the same kind of demands right through but in a way not being the skipper would have helped him concentrate more on his batting.But we are not sure what would have been the situation had it been the other way round. Because we never know what happens in the hindsight.

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I think we need to sympathize with Ponting a bit. He has been a great batsman and too much has been expected of him ignoring his already great achievements. The constant comparisons to Tendulkar havent helped him. He has been chasing what he cant catch and that has definitely added to his troubles. And yes, captaincy also has it's own pressure. I think it's time fans praised Ponting for what he is and stopped comparing him to Tendulkar. The comparison is unfair and Ponting is certainly not at fault if he has constantly fallen short. May be CA should take the burden off his shoulders and allow him a free run of a year in the end of his career. As far as drawing inspiration from Tendulkar is concerned, it could be a trap for a normal batsman. Where he can be a great source of inspiration for batsmen from around the world, Tendulkar has set some standards that could well be impossible for another batsman to achieve. The unbelievable come back is something that should not be expected of Ponting, to be fair to him. It will only put more pressure on him.

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There are hardly any Australian champion players who have retired on a high and their karma has a lot to do with this.
I wouldnt have wished the same for Gilly, had he been the captain. As you said, aussie captains like ponting, steve waugh are disliked cos of thei open encouragement to sledging, mind games, the so called 'mental disintegration' etc. and later on say they play the game hard and fair.. what bhakwas? you resort to such cheap tactics when you cant win the match with your cricketing skills... isnt it?
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I wouldnt have wished the same for Gilly, had he been the captain. As you said, aussie captains like ponting, steve waugh are disliked cos of thei open encouragement to sledging, mind games, the so called 'mental disintegration' etc. and later on say they play the game hard and fair.. what bhakwas? you resort to such cheap tactics when you cant win the match with your cricketing skills... isnt it?
Absolutely. When was the last time Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman and the likes ran their mouth to win India a match?
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Similar type of articles and comments are being passed on Ponting as was the case when Sachin was out of form. It would be great if Ponting can come out of this 'poor form'. Here's a batsmen who was the joint fastest to 11K runs so surely, he can score a few runs in the near future. If he can improve on not lunging forward to the spinners, then he should have a fairly successful tour. Even last time, he had a fairly good tour last time around. Go Ponting, prove them wrong!!

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YOu guys are just being absolutely cruel and petty. If you sincerely think Ricky Ponting is not one of the greatest batsmen of any generation to have played the game then I can only pity you. I wish ponting a lot of luck and a few more centuries, let the flame burn brightly before it goes out. And one of you mentioned Steven Waugh was disliked, WTF?

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