Today, as we reach number 48 in our countdown to the Ashes, David Siddall of World Cricket Watch returns to cast a critical eye on Ricky Ponting's captaincy in light of India's come-from-behind victory in the 1st Test at Mohali this week. Although David focuses on the decisions that Punter made in this particular match, one wonders if the Australian skipper's perceived weaknesses could prove the difference come what is expected to be an extremely close Ashes series this winter.
In my opinion, there is no question that Ricky Ponting will go down as one of the all time greatest batsmen [see The 30 Greatest Batsmen Ever: Part 1 (30-21), Part 2 (20-11), Part 3 (10-1)]. Himself, Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara are without question the finest three batsmen of their generation (for my money the Little Master is the best of the trio). But whilst Punter's status in the batting pantheon is unquestionable, his ability as a captain can be scrutinised. Such kinds of scrutiny were epitomised in India’s run chase in the opening test at Mohali.
With India finding themselves eight wickets down for 124 chasing a seemingly impossible target of 216 for victory, some of the tactics employed by the Australian captain were strange to say the least. The game should have surely been out of India’s reach. Yet VVS Laxman guided them to victory with help from Ishant Sharma, a dubious lbw decision and four overthrows. Before deconstructing the captaincy in the latter stages, it’s worthwhile to note just how great test cricket can be. This was a cracking match that for three days failed to inspire. The final two days ebbed and flowed and the final session of cricket was some of the most enthralling you’ll ever see. But what it also demonstrated was the fine margins involved in test cricket…
Play by Play of the Fine Margins of Test Cricket
India find themselves 9 down still requiring 11 runs for victory after a poor lbw decision given by Ian Gould. To the naked eye it looked like it was going down the leg side and Hawkeye proved the case. No referrals in this test.
India move to within six runs of victory.
Johnson to Ojha – Johnson raps him on the pads and Australia in its entirety go up for lbw. It’s plumb (And Australia win!) butgiven not out. The ball squirts out on the off side towards gully. Meanwhile Ojha does the old “where did it go, lets take a walk down the track” dance. Michael Clarke shys at the wickets and it misses by a whisker (Australia so close again). It goes for four overthrows and India are two shy of a famous victory.
Johnson to Ojha – two leg byes. Johnson slips it down the legside and India scramble two leg byes. The crowd goes wild and India win a nail biting test.
You can watch the India vs Australia 1st Test Day 5 Highlights here. Including the play by play.
It was incredible cricket but should India have been allowed to win or even get that close?
With 30 still to chase who do you turn to?
If your name is Ricky Ponting apparently the answer to that question is part time off spinner Marcus “innocuous” North. Each over North was brought on for another crack, the Aussies in the pub would hurl abuse at Punter. And more to the point Ishant Sharma – for the most part – would play him with consummate ease. In a situation where a run chase goes down to the wire, you need to attack from both ends. Meanwhile at one stage Ponting decided to give Shane Watson a two over burst and actually not attack from either end (Watson had hardly bowled in the game previously with < 10 overs). With 20 runs required for victory, this was a cardinal sin. The equation should be simple at this stage – attack from both ends with your most potent bowlers: Mitchell Johnson (five for in the 1st innings) and Ben Hilfenhaus (three wickets in the innings so far and bowling with great rhythm).
These course of events add further evidence to the notion that whilst Ponting is a great batsmen, his captaincy does not reach anywhere near the same heights. And that’s despite the World Cups and dominance of the Australia side. We can even think back to The Ashes in 2009. For all Australia’s statistical dominance in the series, it was England who emerged victorious. They won vital sessions and Strauss’s captaincy for the most part drew plaudits.
Is Ricky Ponting a dodgy captain or is David being extremely harsh to Punter?
Where next?
1st Test: Mohali - Australia marks out of ten
Australia's long run of wins is really despite captaincy than because of it.
Ponting was heavily criticised after the 2005 series (remember Edgbaston, specifically how Trescothick enjoyed being put in, and how Mohammed Ashraful enjoyed not being) and has been regularly criticised ever since.
This year, he was opting to bat first on a cold, wet, cloudy day in Headingly against Amir and Asif. Great idea.
However, as I said when talking about Bradman, in an Aussie side, the best bat is captain, 50 years running. Taking the captaincy away from Punter, to the Aussie selectors, is like telling him he can't bat anymore. Which is simply not true.
Posted by: Howe_zat | Friday, October 08, 2010 at 08:51
Interesting thoughts Howe_Zat and I agree that Punter is an average ski at best. Given he has only converetd three of his last 18 test fifties into hundreds, perhaps he should voluntarily relinquish the captaincy and return to the ranks. Maybe then he could enjoy the sort of indian summer to his career that Sachin currently is?
Posted by: The Reverse Sweep | Friday, October 15, 2010 at 16:12
As much as I have enjoyed seeing Ponting suffer in the recent ashes series losses to our boys in England, there is no doubt that he is a superb test batsman and his figures prove it.
It seems that his more recent exploits as a captain are coming under the microscope as he is captaining a team of average players compared to the team that he had a few years back, so his decisions are vitally important now than they ever were before.
I am looking forward to the Ashes to see what decisions he makes when things are not going in his favour as this could unfortunately be his undoing if he is not bold, the recent Indian series and the one day international with Sri Lanka (he was not playing) but both had a familiar sense that they were throwing a winning situation into a loosing one by their lack of adventure and went for the negative option.
Posted by: Noel | Sunday, November 07, 2010 at 20:36