Ricky Ponting's performance in the opening test of a series

[Dravid]

I was not aware of this. I thought they were at the RCA before the tour matches, and were already with Chappell.

i think u r right i remember chapple telling RCA ground staff to prepare like 10 diff practice pitches, and got oz players to practice there..

[Chorazin Reto]

I dont overly rate him as a captain, but as a batsmen there are few i rate better, i think Tendulkar has more talent and skill than Ponting, looks better and more elegant than Ponting and is generally more gifted than Ponting. But when the chips are down in a pressure situation i think Ponting has more mental resolve than Tendulkar.

[graphic23]

I dont overly rate him as a captain, but as a batsmen there are few i rate better, i think Tendulkar has more talent and skill than Ponting, looks better and more elegant than Ponting and is generally more gifted than Ponting. But when the chips are down in a pressure situation i think Ponting has more mental resolve than Tendulkar.

While I would not go that far, I will say that Ponting has performed several times for his team when there was a lot of spotlight. When he repeatedly says that they lift their game in big games, I think a lot of times, he himself raises his game in crunch situations. I am not sure if the Tendulkar comparison is valid.

[Shehezaada]

I dont overly rate him as a captain, but as a batsmen there are few i rate better, i think Tendulkar has more talent and skill than Ponting, looks better and more elegant than Ponting and is generally more gifted than Ponting. But when the chips are down in a pressure situation i think Ponting has more mental resolve than Tendulkar.

very hard to compare the two interms of pressure situations....i think india have needed Tendulkar a lot more then Australia needed Ponting. Ponting's had the luxury of playing with an all star cricket team while Tendulkar only recently has got a good supporting cast. Ponting is an excellent player under pressure no doubt...his rearguard in the ashes last year, hundred in the 4th innings against Bangladesh. He just hasn't produced in India.

[Shehezaada]

One more question then' date=' for these starts, what happens to his innings in later matches ? On the latest SAF and Ind test matches he had ended up in fifties.[/quote'] not even..averaged an even 38 on the indian tour

[Anakin]

But when the chips are down in a pressure situation i think Ponting has more mental resolve than Tendulkar.

It's sad when even after carrying a whole team for a decade (and then some and by that it's almost another decade :hysterical::hysterical:), someone has to endure such idiotic statements. Oh well, just goes to show the ignorance on the viewers' part.

[Chorazin Reto]

Not really, Tendulkar has had what i would say are some of the brightest batting stars in the game around him in Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly,Sehwag, these players are greats that will be remembered for a long time to come, carrying his team? Are you watching the same game? I love the blind Tendulkar fanboiz who ignore the great efforts of players like Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag that also contribute and helped to build towards what team India has today.

[Mr. Wicket]

Not really' date=' Tendulkar has had what i would say are some of the brightest batting stars in the game around him in Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly,Sehwag, these players are greats that will be remembered for a long time to come, carrying his team?[/quote'] Yeah, thanks for pointing that out. Didn't realize Tendulkar had so much support. Poor Ponting was always on his own right through his career. Shame he had nobody around him like say, Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Hussey or Michael Clarke. And it's not like he ever had a bowling attack either to support him.

[Chorazin Reto]

my replay was to this statement "It's sad when even after carrying a whole team for a decade" Which is clearly not the case

[graphic23]

Not really, Tendulkar has had what i would say are some of the brightest batting stars in the game around him in Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly,Sehwag, these players are greats that will be remembered for a long time to come, carrying his team? Are you watching the same game? I love the blind Tendulkar fanboiz who ignore the great efforts of players like Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag that also contribute and helped to build towards what team India has today.

While I appreciate the contributions of all of the guys you've mentioned, you've conveniently forgotten arguably India's biggest match winner - Kumble. No matter what your opinion is or what you saw, staring from the early 90s, in the one-day side, India meant Tendulkar to most sides, and a little later, even the tests. The only guy, barring Azhar, who can be included in the list of "support cast" is Anil Kumble. That is all. And even Kumble was only ordinary overseas (compared to his home records anyway). You may accuse me of being a Sachin fanboy (I prefer the term devotee or worshiper) but your biased eyes could not see a more twisted picture if you truly believe in the notion that Ponting has more mental resolve than Tendulkar. Just to give you an example, it takes cojones to bat with a potential career-stopping injury and make 136 in a 2nd innings at Chennai against Wasim and Waqar. It takes cojones to score a 114 at a wild and bouncy Perth in your first trip there when the 9th wicket fell when you were only in the 60s. It takes cojones to single-handedly take your team to the finals and win it. It takes cojones to bat change your entire batting style to fit the needs of your team - something not even Lara can speak of - let alone Ponting. Stop lecturing us on our 'fanboyisms' and please do pay attention to facts. If you need some more help, do visit http://www.cricinfo.com and should you need some match reports, they are also available with the scorecards. And to give you a little sample of what it means to be Tendulkar:

Watching the Indians bat today reminded one of the wretched times they endured while touring abroad during the '90s. The storylines were mostly the same: top-order crumbles to swing and seam, Tendulkar stands alone, lower-order support arrives before India stage some sort of recovery. Through the previous decade Tendulkar was India's Atlas Abroad, constructing masterpieces amid the surrounding wreckage. There was an eerie familiarity when the scoreboard read: 2 for 1, 2 for 2, 14 for 3 and 65 for 4. It's when you usually asked yourself "Is Tendulkar still batting?" (In the last five years you'd probably first ask about Dravid but he was rested for this encounter and that wasn't an option). Luckily for the large crowd of Indians who'd landed up at Chelmsford the answer was a reassuring one, until he fell twenty minutes before stumps.

Source: http://www.cricinfo.com/engvind/content/story/302020.html An example of course, that is in the 17th year of his international career. Kthxbye.

[Dhondy]

It's sad when even after carrying a whole team for a decade (and then some and by that it's almost another decade :hysterical::hysterical:)' date=' someone has to endure such idiotic statements. Oh well, just goes to show the ignorance on the viewers' part.[/quote'] That's the problem, anakin. You are always the first to pounce on people if they declare Sachin as anything but messiah. I have never seen you support that with recollections of some instances when he was enormous under pressure. Yet, you are the first to scoff at people when they present stats in evidence of what they say. There is no pleasing you, is there?

[Chorazin Reto]

I was speaking more from a batting perspective, rather than a bowling perspective, but if you want to talk bowlers then by all means i would include Kumble in the above list, he was an excellent player and any team would of been happy to have him. I can easily pick out as many failures as you can pick out 'Cajones', but i think the biggest 1 will always be his 2nd innings average. There are some standouts like his 155 not out vs Aus at Chennai in 98(probably the pick of them for me amazing innings), and his 176 vs WI at Kolkata in 02, others worth a mention, his innings vs Sri Lanka at Colombo(124 not out), and his 103 not out vs England at Chennai last year.

[graphic23]

I was speaking more from a batting perspective, rather than a bowling perspective, but if you want to talk bowlers then by all means i would include Kumble in the above list, he was an excellent player and any team would of been happy to have him. I can easily pick out as many failures as you can pick out 'Cajones', but i think the biggest 1 will always be his 2nd innings average. There are some standouts like his 155 not out vs Aus at Chennai in 98(probably the pick of them for me amazing innings), and his 176 vs WI at Kolkata in 02, others worth a mention, his innings vs Sri Lanka at Colombo(124 not out), and his 103 not out vs England at Chennai last year.

Could I not do the same for Ponting then? You made a loose statement with regards to mental resolve. I provided stats and only examples of what he's done in his career. All you can come up with is, "i can come up with failures too." When someone has played over a 150 tests and over 425 ODIs in their career, along with innumerable first class/list a matches, then there are bound to be matches whether they didn't perform. Tendulkar is a superior batsman and a cricketer to Ricky Ponting. Given how amazing Ponting has been this decade, thats saying something.

[Anakin]

That's the problem, anakin. You are always the first to pounce on people if they declare Sachin as anything but messiah. I have never seen you support that with recollections of some instances when he was enormous under pressure. Yet, you are the first to scoff at people when they present stats in evidence of what they say. There is no pleasing you, is there?

First of all, I didn't pounce on anyone, just because you do that on everyone doesn't mean others do the same thing. As far as pressure goes, please do let me know how often SRT has not been the center of Ind batting, how Ind team was overall stronger than the OZs, that probably will be easier than to recollect when he was not under enormous pressure, heck, I'm sure the match saving innings in Pak and Eng(100 IIRC) were under no pressure at all, after all he was just a kid and probably just beginner's luck. And no, I don't blindly take numbers without context. BTW, I'm not a blind fanboy or worshiper as you think, it's just that I just don't say somebody doesn't have any balls and then back it up, with or without numbers, and probably just as much of a worshiper as you're a hater.

[Anakin]

Not really, Tendulkar has had what i would say are some of the brightest batting stars in the game around him in Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly,Sehwag, these players are greats that will be remembered for a long time to come, carrying his team? Are you watching the same game? I love the blind Tendulkar fanboiz who ignore the great efforts of players like Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag that also contribute and helped to build towards what team India has today.

No, apparently we've been watching different games, that clears your confusion. Thanks.

[Chorazin Reto]

So Sehwag, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Kumble ... they were just baggage Tendulkar had to lug around with him?

[Anakin]

So Sehwag' date=' Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Kumble ... they were just baggage Tendulkar had to lug around with him?[/quote'] As I said, we have been following quite different game, after all SRT has always had much stronger team (in every way batting, bowling, fielding, catching, sledging) than poor Punter played with all his life.

[Jai Ho]

ponting is wonderful batsman, one of my favorites to watch.

[Chorazin Reto]

""As I said, we have been following quite different game, after all SRT has always had much stronger team (in every way batting, bowling, fielding, catching, sledging) than poor Punter played with all his life."" Where did i ever mention Ponting had carried the Australian team for decades, i think it's a group effort they do well, not the heroics of just 1 man, so talking about Ponting is irrelevant in context. This is about how Tendulkar *carried* India for a decade or more.

[Anakin]

""As I said, we have been following quite different game, after all SRT has always had much stronger team (in every way batting, bowling, fielding, catching, sledging) than poor Punter played with all his life."" Where did i ever mention Ponting had carried the Australian team for decades, i think it's a group effort they do well, not the heroics of just 1 man, so talking about Ponting is irrelevant in context. This is about how Tendulkar *carried* India for a decade or more.

Was SRT the center of Ind batting or not for most of his career? Was there a general feeling among the opposition that if they could get him out, they'd have the upper hand? Didn't lot of people leave the ground once he was out knowing the fate? We can go on and on about this, but it's useless.