1,2,3 - Ponting's deliverance time

He probably never wanted a century more than this. The only batsman in cricket history to average over 59 after amassing as many as 10,000 Test runs, Ponting has done it all in the sport. But a good performance and a Test ton in India has eluded him for too long.

The celebrations told the story. Ricky Ponting’s average in India prior to this series was a deplorable 12.08. One bowler who has troubled the Australian captain more than any other bowler in recent years, Harbhajan Singh, was highly unsuccessful in his pursuit to get into his mind. Ponting was aggressive against the spinner with an obvious intent.

Ricky Ponting came into this series knowing that he would be under immense pressure while facing two bowlers in particular – Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma. He knew that there was an obvious gameplan in place from the Indians.

Ponting was out in the middle in the very first over and quite deliberately Harbhajan Singh was introduced into the attack in just the twelfth over – even though the two quicks were gaining considerable amount of help from the pitch.

Ian Chappell told Neo Cricket’s Extra Cover that it was Ponting’s calmness and tranquillity that paid rich dividends today. He looked at bay and did not take added pressure on himself. Ponting showed the world that he was not the ‘brat’ who came to India in 2001-02 and crumbled under pressure.

The crowd had to wait for a while before the two (Ponting and Harbhajan) had another face-off. Katich was hogging most of the off spinner’s deliveries, deliberately or not. The big screen flashed a timely message when the two finally faced off - "Ponting has been dismissed by Harbhajan eight times in Test cricket."

‘Punter’ knew that he could not let Harbhajan get on top of him this early in this series.

Ponting versus Harbhajan

The first 36 deliveries that Ponting faced from Harbhajan fetched the Aussie captain 32 runs – a clear indication that Ponting was keen on getting on top of the off-spinner. His overall strike rate against Harbhajan was 80.

Ponting versus Ishant

Anil Kumble almost over-bowled Ishant Sharma when Ricky Ponting was fresh at the crease. The lanky fast bowler from Delhi bowled eight overs at a stretch and tried his best to get into the skin of the Australian captain. Ponting obviously did not let that happen, scoring 32 runs from the 56 balls he faced from Ishant prior to the Tea interval. Overall, he faced 62 deliveries from Ishant and scored 33 runs.

Some interesting facts:-

• Ricky Ponting had not faced so many deliveries from Harbhajan Singh during the entire 2000-01 Test series in India. 
   
• Ponting smashed Harbhajan Singh for a boundary in the very first delivery he faced from the off-spinner.
   
• Darren Gough of England is the only other bowler who had dismissed Ponting at least on 8 occasions. Harbhajan has now snapped Ponting on 9 occasions.
   
• By scoring his 16th hundred as captain of Australia Ponting now has the most centuries as captain. He betters the performances of compatriots Alan Border and Steve Waugh both of whom have scored 15 hundreds each when captain.
   
• Ponting is the 6th Australian captain to score a hundred on Indian soil. However his 123 is now the highest score by an Australian captain on Indian soil. Steve Waugh had made 110 at Calcutta 2000-01.
   
• Ricky Ponting (123) when on 24 went past Sunil Gavaskar in the list of maximum runs scored in Test cricket. Ponting now moves into the number 6 position in the list of top run getters, behind Lara (11953), Tendulkar (11877), Border (11174), S Waugh (10927),Dravid (10246)
   
• Ricky Ponting (123) registered his only second score of over fifty on Indian soil. His previous fifty was scored as far back as on 13 March 1998. It has taken him 10 years and 7 months to score another fifty on Indian soil. His scores in the interim were 9,16, dnb,0,dnb,6,0,0,11,11,12; ie: 65 runs in 9 innings @ 7.22

All said and done this knock is surely one that would give Ricky Ponting more satisfaction than a lot of others in his illustrious career. He has made no secret about how badly he wants to improve his record in India.

He has certainly set the beat rolling for the series just the way Gilchrist did as captain in Bangalore exactly four seasons back. This could prove to be the boost that his team and more importantly himself needed going into the more intense stages.

With this rather ‘studious’ knock of 123 runs, Ponting has emerged as the Australian captain and captain from any country with the most amount of hundreds. It was, quite fittingly, in the country where he failed to deliver. He would probably hold this achievement as skipper, right up with the Ashes cleans weep and the WC triumphs. It adds a new episode to the legacy of the Tasmanian.