Pakistani Cricket Players

Friday 4 November 2011

Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar Biography
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born on April 24, 1973 in Mumbai, India. He went to Shradashram Vidyamandir, a high school in Mumbai, where he began his cricketing career under his coach Ramakant Achrekar. He attended the MRF Pace Foundation during his schooldays to train as a fast bowler, but Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, who saw him training, was not much impressed and suggested that Tendulkar should focus on his batting instead. As a young boy, Tendulkar would practice for hours at the net, and was driven hard by his coach Achrekar.
While at school, his extraordinary batting skills got noticed by the sports circuit. People felt that the young boy would soon become one of the greats in cricket. In the 1988 season, he scored a century in every inning that he played. In one of the inter school matches that year, he had an unbroken 664-run partnership with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli.
When he was 14, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar a great Indian batsman of that time, gave him a pair of his own light pads. This touching gesture greatly encouraged the budding cricketer, who 20 years later broke Gavaskar’s world record of 34 Test centuries.
In 1988, when he was just under 16, he scored 100 not out in for Bombay against Gujrat. This was on his first-class debut. He then scored a century in his first appearance in the Deodhar and Duleep Trophy. Mumbai captain Dilip Vengsarkar picked him up after seeing him batting Kapil Dev in the nets. That season he was Bombay’s highest run-getter. In the Irani Trophy final, He made an unbeaten century. He scored a century in all three of his Irani Trophy, Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy debuts, and became the first player to do so. He was selected for the tour of Pakistan next year.
At the very young age of 16, Sachin played his first Test match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989. In this Test, he received several blows to his body at the hands of Waqar Younis, a pace bowler. He made just 15 runs. In the last test in Sialkot, he had a bloody nose from a bouncer, but he went on playing. He scored better in the subsequent games, scoring 53 runs of 18 balls at Peshawar.

In the 1990 Test in England he scored a century at Old Trafford. The English were highly impressed by his disciplined display of immense maturity. He played many types of strokes. His off-side shots from the back foot greatly impressed the English. Though short in height, he confidently faced short deliveries from the English pace bowlers. His great performance made him look the embodiment of Gavaskar, India’s former famous opener.
During the 1991-1992 tour of Australia Tendulkar scored and unbeaten 148 in Sydney and another century on a bouncing pitch a Perth.
At the age of 19, Tendulkar was in England, playing for Yorkshire in 1992. He scored 1070 runs at an average of 45.25 while playing for the English county as the first overseas player.
In the 2003 Cricket World Cup, he made 673 runs in 11 matches which enabled India reach the final. Although Australia won the trophy Tendulkar was given the Man of the Tournament award.
Shortly after this Tendulkar developed a tennis elbow and he was out of cricket for a while. But by 2005, he was back in form. He played well against Australia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Tendulkar performed very well against Bangla Desh and he was adjudged the Man of the Series in the Future Cup against South Africa.
Today Tendulkar is a national icon to fans all over the world. He is the most worshipped cricketer in the world. Tendulkar has been granted the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Shri, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Padma Vibhushan by the Indian government.

Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar 90 vs Australia 1996 WORLD CUP

Mohammad Yousuf

Mohammad Yousuf Biography
Mohammad Yousuf (formerly Yousuf Youhana, born 27 August 1974, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan) is a Pakistani cricketer who has been a member of the Pakistani national cricket team since 1998. He is best known for his achievement in 2006 when he broke the great West Indian batsman, Sir Vivian Richards', world record for the most Test runs in a single calendar year. Prior to his conversion to Islam in 2005, Yousuf was one of the few Christians to play in the Pakistan national cricket team. He made his Test debut against South Africa at Durban and ODI debut against Zimbabwe at Harare. He has scored over 9,000 ODI runs at an average of 43.63 (2rd highest batting average among Pakistani batsmen after Zaheer Abbas and 6,770 Test runs at an average of 55.49 (highest batting average amongst all Pakistani batsmen) with 23 Test centuries. He has the record of scoring the most runs without being dismissed in ODIs, 405 against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe in 2002-03. He has also scored a 23-ball fifty in ODIs, and a 68-ball hundred. In Tests he has scored a 27-ball fifty, which is 3rd fastest by any player. He was top scorer during the successive years of 2002 and 2003 in the world in ODIs. In 2004, he scored a memorable 111 against the Australians in the Boxing Day Test. In December 2005, he scored 223 against England at Lahore, also earning him the man of the match award. Seven months later in July 2006, when Pakistan toured England, he scored 202 and 48 in the first Test, again earning himself the man of the match award. He followed up with 192 in the third Test at Headingley and 128 in the final Test at the Oval. Yousuf was named CNN-IBN�s Cricketer of the Year for 2006, ahead of the likes of Australian captain Ricky Ponting, West Indies Brian Lara, Australian spinner Shane Warne, South Africa�s bowling spearhead Makhaya Ntini and Sri Lanka�s Muttiah Muralitharan. He was selected as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in the 2007 edition. Yousuf became the fourth recipient of the ICC 'Test Cricketer of the Year' award for 2007, he scored 944 runs at an average of 94.40 including five centuries and two fifties in just 10 innings and that was enough to be awarded the honour ahead of Kevin Pietersen and Ricky Ponting. Yousuf was also named in the 2007 Test team of the Year alongside compatriot Mohammad Asif. A year that started on a promising note, Yousuf carried it forward to break two world records both held earlier by West Indian great Sir Vivian Richards. The 32-year-old smashed an unparalleled 1788 runs in just 11 Test matches with the help of nine centuries � his second record � taking him beyond the Windies great yet again. Yousuf is known for his ability to score runs at exceptional rate through his great technique and composed strokeplay. Although capable of hitting the ball hard, Yousuf is quick between the wickets, although he is prone to being run out. Yousuf is a skillful infielder, with a report prepared in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the ninth highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman. He is also distinguished by his characteristic celebration after hitting one hundred runs for his country, where he prostrates in thankfulness to Allah in the direction of Mecca. He has observed this act (known as the Sajdah) recently since his conversion to Islam.

Mohammad Yousuf

Mohammad Yousuf 192 - England v Pakistan 3rd test at Leeds 2006

Mohammad Yousuf 202 - England v Pakistan 1st test at Lords 2006

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle Biography
Chris Gayle, a West Indian cricketer, was born on September 21, 1979, in Kingston, Jamaica. He is fondly called “Cramps” or “Mr. Cool” and is an all-rounder, who bats left-handed and bowls right-arm off break.

Chris Gayle played his first international Test match on March 16, 2000 against Zimbabwe, and in July 2001, he set up a 214-run partnership with Daren Ganga, a teammate, which became the record for opening partnerships at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo. By the end of 2002, he scored three centuries against India and also became the fourth West Indian to score 1000 runs in a calendar year. In January 2004, Chris Gayle hit a century off 79 balls when chasing a first-inning South African score of 532, following which he again scored a century against Bangladesh.

In 2005, Chris Gayle was included in the Test series against South Africa, during which he played in the fourth match in Antigua and made 317 runs, which is his career best. It was also the first triple century against South Africa. During the 2005-06 tour of New Zealand, Chris Gayle opened the batting in the three-Test series and scored 235 runs, becoming the first West Indian to cross the 200-run mark.

Chris Gayle made his One Day International (ODI) debut on September 11, 1999 against India and was included in the West Indian squad for the 2003 World Cup. At the 2006 Champions Trophy, he was a part of the team that played at the finals against Australia and went on amass 474 runs in that tournament, which were 150 runs more than any other player. Chris Gayle also scalped eight wickets and in recognition of his impressive performances he was named as the Player of the Tournament. He featured at the 2007 World Cup and scored a remarkable 79 runs off 58 balls in a match against England. Chris Gayle joined the list of ace players like Vivian Richards, Sanath Jayasuriya and Brian Lara, who have three or more scores above 150.

Chris Gayle captained the West Indies at the ODI series in England and Ireland, and led the team to a 2-1 win against England. He also led the team in the Test series against South Africa, which finished in a 1-1 draw. In August 2008, he made his 16th ODI century, 110 runs off 77 balls, in the final match against Canada, and led his team to a seven-wicket win at the Tri-series hosted by Canada.

Chris Gayle played his first Twenty20 international (T20I) on February 16, 2006 against New Zealand and in 2007, he scored 117 runs off just 57 balls, in the opening match against South Africa at the International Cricket Council (ICC) World T20 Championship. He is the only batsman to have hit a century in the Twenty20 international and also holds the record of the highest innings in a T20I. As of 2008, Chris Gayle is the only cricketer to have hit centuries in all three formats of international cricket and has also been nominated for the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year.

In April 2008, Chris Gayle was purchased by the Kolkata Knight Riders team for $800,000, making him one of the most expensive players of the Kolkata team at the 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL). However, he failed to play as he had to join the West Indies team for a series against Australia.

When not playing cricket, Chris Gayle enjoys playing video games and also likes watching Tom and Jerry shows in the television.

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle's powerful hitting, 3rd ODI WI vs ENG 2009.

Chris Gayle 92 (40) vs Queensland, 2010/11 KFC Big Bash

Daniel Vettori

Daniel Vettori Bioraphy
Full name Daniel Luca Vettori

Born January 27, 1979, Auckland

Major teams New Zealand, Delhi Daredevils, ICC World XI, Northern Districts, Nottinghamshire, Queensland, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Warwickshire

Playing role Allrounder

Batting style Left-hand bat

Bowling style Slow left-arm orthodox

Relation Uncle - AJ Hill, Cousin - JV Hill

Daniel Vettori has been on the international scene so long it is sometimes hard to believe he has only recently crossed into his thirties. The youngest man to play Test cricket for New Zealand, at the age of 18, he is one of only eight players to have managed the double of 300 Test wickets and 3000 runs. With time on his side, he could one day creep up towards Hadlee's 431 Test dismissals, but to do that Vettori would need to avoid the stress fractures in his back that troubled him earlier in his career. He also cannot afford another form slump like the one he suffered in 2003-04.

He bounced back from that one, returning to his best, and his mastery of drift and subtle variations in flight, speed and length earned him a reputation as New Zealand's most dangerous player. It was that guile and ability to confuse the batsmen that sometimes turned what seemed like innocuous deliveries into unplayable hand grenades by the time they reached the other end.

He troubled Australia with 12 for 149 at Eden Park in March 2000, giving him his first ten-wicket Test. He continued to peak whenever he faced Australia, and also feasted against Bangladesh in 2004, taking 20 for 224 in the two-match rout. He was recognised alongside Muttiah Muralitharan as one of the best spinners outside Australia for the Super Series in 2005-06, and was one of six players to represent the World XI in the Test and all three one-dayers.

A more than handy lower-order batsman, he has five Test centuries, and is the most prolific No. 8 in Tests. He was installed as captain for the Twenty20 World Championship in 2007 and took over from Fleming as the Test captain ahead of their two-Test tour of South Africa. However, retirements and the ICL saw New Zealand slip in the world rankings, and Vettori was saddled with more responsibilities than he could have imagined - including that of selector in 2009. Positive results, especially in Tests, were hard to come by but it didn't affect Vettori's form, and on many occasions his lower-order batting has come to the rescue.

Daniel Vettori

Daniel Vetorri, WOW

Daniel Vettori bowling highlight

Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid Biography
Full Name: Rahul Sharad Dravid
Born: January 11, 1973, Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Major teams: India, Scotland, ICC World XI, Karnataka, Kent
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm off break

Achievements:
Longest streak of consecutive Tests since debut (94)
Greatest number of innings since debut before being dismissed for a duck
The best career test average among the contemporary test batsmen (58.55)
Involved in the highest partnership (331 runs) in the history of ODI cricket along with Sachin Tendulkar vs New Zealand
ICC Player of the Year 2004.
Rahul Sharad Dravid, generally known as Rahul Dravid is an Indian Cricket player and has been the Captain of the team for some time. Owing to his long and steady innings at the crease, Dravid is sometimes referred to as “The Wall” by Indian media and fans. Apart from Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid is the only Indian batsman who has scored over 10,000 runs in Test Cricket, and the 6th batsman in the world to have scored 10,000 runs in One Day International (ODI) Cricket, although 2 other Indian batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly had achieved the feat before him.

Dravid also has grabbed the biggest number of catches in the history of Test Cricket with a total of 182 catches, and has partnered in 72 centuries with 18 different batsmen which is in itself a world record.

Early Life
Rahul Dravid was born on the 11th of January 1973 at Indore, Madhya Pradesh and was brought up in Bangalore, Karnataka. He studied at St. Joseph’s Boys’ High School, Bangalore and St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore.

Dravid had begun playing Cricket at quite an early age, and made a place for himself in the State Cricket team at Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 levels. In the year 1991 he made his debut in Ranji Trophy while playing against Maharashtra. He scored 82 runs in the match, which was eventually resulted in a draw. In the year 1991-12 he also represented South Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

Test and ODI Debut
Rahul made his debut in One Day International (ODI) Cricket with an ODI match between India and Sri Lanka, played at Singapore on 3rd of April, 1996. He scored just 3 runs in the match. His debut in the Test Cricket was made on the June 20th, 1996 with a Test match against England, and he scored 95 runs in the match.

Remarkable Achievements
He got his first Man of the Match award in a Test match against South Africa in the year 1996-97. He scored 148 and 81 runs, which were top score in both the innings respectively. Also, in the New Year Test match played against New Zealand in the year 1999, he scored 190 and 103 (Not Out) runs respectively, achieving the rare feat of scoring a century each in both the innings of a Test match. Till then, this feat had been accomplished by only 2 Indians, viz. Sunil Gavaskar and Vijay Hazare.

In the year 2001, Dravid delivered his best performance in partnership with V.V.S. Laxman in a Test match against Australia. The pair together added 376 runs for the 6th wicket, out of which 180 were scored by Dravid while 281 were scored by Laxman.

Dravid scored 4 consecutive centuries against England ( 3 centuries) and West Indies (1 century) in the year 2002. In the year 2003-2004, he raked in 3 double centuries against New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan. He also got India its first Test match victory over Pakistan in Pakistan itself in the year 2003-2004. In the final match of the Test Series being played at Rawalpindi, Dravid added 270 runs to the total, making India victorious upon Pakistan in the country itself for the first time.

Rahul Dravid made the highest total score in the ICC World Cup Cricket 1999, with 461 runs. He was the Captain of the Indian team during ICC World Cup Cricket 2007, although his performance like other teammates in this tournament didn’t meet the expectations of the nation. Personally, Dravid scored 14 runs against Bangladesh, 7 not out against Bermuda and 60 against Sri Lanka in the tournament.

He was also the Captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the IPL Twenty-20 Tournament 2008, although in the 2009 he was replaced by Kevin Pietersen.

Dravid scored 314 runs in the Test Series against New Zealand played in the year 2008-09.

Overall Performance
In his overall Test Cricket career, Rahul Dravid has played 134 Test matches till April 2009. In these matches, he has scored 10823 runs with an average of 52.53 runs and the highest score of 270 runs. While in ODI Cricket, he has played 333 ODI matches till April 2009 and has scored 10585 runs with an average of 39.49 runs. His highest ODI score is 153 runs.

Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid 233 against Australia

A Tribute To Rahul Dravid aj

Andrew Strauss

Andrew Strauss Biography
Andrew John Strauss will be the captain of the English Test cricket team and he also plays county cricket for Middlesex. Born in South Africa in 1977, Andrew Strauss is regarded as one of the very best left-handed batsman to have played for England. He has been conferred with Member of the British Empire (MBE) and also the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen for his exceptional services to cricket.

Early Cricketing Career

Andrew Strauss began playing cricket in Australia when he was attending the Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne. He was educated at the Caldicott School, Radley College, and Hatfield College, lastly completing his education with a degree in Economics from the prestigious Durham University. He is married to Ruth MacDonald, who is an Australian actress. They have two young children, Sam aged six, and Luca, aged 3. Andrew Strauss was a typical feature in the Durham University cricket team and has also played for the Middlesex second XI since 1996. Strauss created his way into the Middlesex 1st XI in the year 1998, making a patient 83, but his efficiency was ordinary inside the rest of the series. It took Strauss two years to make his maiden first-class hundred. He performed consistently using the bat, helping himself to become the captain of Middlesex in 2002.

International Debut

Andrew Strauss was selected for England’s tour of the sub-continent, beginning with England taking on Bangladesh in a One Day International (ODI) series. He played a tour match, scoring 51, but didn’t get an chance to be a component of playing eleven against Bangladesh. Following the Bangladesh tour, England flew to Sri Lanka, where he finally got a chance to represent England. He didn’t make one of the most of it and was subsequently dropped for the rest of the tour. Strauss got an additional chance, this time in West Indies where he produced a sturdy 29, helping England to win the match. He was omitted from the squad once again, until the final match where he scored a fluent 66, resulting into England drawing the series.

After the England team returned residence to host New Zealand, an injury to Michael Vaughan allowed him to feature in the playing eleven. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands, scoring 112 inside the very first innings and 82 in the second (he was run out in second innings and Naseer Hussain, who was the other batsman, took the responsibility for it). His impressive efficiency launched him as a formidable left-hander for England, also creating him the second English player to score a century on debut at Lord’s. He also became the fourth Englishman in the history of cricket to score a century and a half-century on debut. He was awarded the Man of the Match for his efforts and established himself as a powerful contender for the opener’s slot inside the Test team. When Naseer Hussain decided to quit international cricket, Strauss was given the responsibility to open the England innings, together with fellow southpaw Marcus Trescothick. In the ensuing Natwest series, Strauss scored his very first ODI hundred, which also saw him build a 226 run partnership with Andrew Flintoff.

The next main landmark in Andrew Strauss’s career came in 2005, the year that changed everything for English cricket. England won the Ashes 2005, having a 2-1 win over arch-rivals Australia, lifting the symbolic urn following 18 years. Andrew Strauss could not do considerably in the very first two Tests, his highest score being 48 inside the first innings of the second Test match. Even so, Strauss came back strongly within the second innings of the third Test match, scoring 106, helping his side to post a challenging 371 on board. The fourth Test match, which is regarded as many to be one of the most effective Ashes matches ever, saw Strauss make notable contributions using the bat in a low-scoring match. Inside the final as well as the deciding Test, Strauss held the fort, while wickets kept on falling at the other end, scoring a defiant 129, an innings which helped England develop history, prompting frenzy celebrations across the country.

After his Ashes histrionics, the England team toured Pakistan, where Strauss didn’t have a really impressive run using the bat within the Test matches. He had to return home to be there with his wife as she delivered their first child. Strauss returned to Pakistan, and except a match-winning 94, didn’t carry out well within the ODI’s. England toured India next, where Strauss, again didn’t contribute significantly with the bat, apart from a test hundred. It was in the ODI series against India that Strauss got the chance to lead the English side as Andrew Flintoff required a break.

Captaincy

Strauss was made the official captain for the Pakistan’s tour of England and even though Strauss performed well, guiding England to win the Test match series, the summer was remembered far more for the Ovalgate fiasco, when umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove felt that the ball had been tampered by the Pakistani fieldsmen. Pakistan team objected strongly to this allegation and decided not to take the field as a mark of protest. Inside the subsequent 1 day series, Strauss played a essential innings of 35 in the fourth Test match allowed England to level the series. Although Strauss scored two half-centuries in three matches in Champion’s trophy in India, the team as a entire could not do much, with just one win over the West Indies.

Strauss had to create way for Andrew Flintoff as the captain of the England team as he was declared totally fit. The period from 2006-07 saw a dip in his from and he was ultimately dropped from the ODI side. Strauss took a short break from cricket and when he was recalled for the 2008 tour of New Zealand, he didn’t disappoint the selectors and created a career best 177 at Napier. He continued his very good form against South Africa and India, generating two hundreds in the very same Test match against the latter.

Strauss was as soon as once more entrusted with the job of captaincy in January 2009 and amassed 541 runs against West Indies with an impressive average of 67.62. England lost the away series but atoned the defeat when they hosted West Indies. Andrew Strauss played a essential function within the 2009 Ashes series, defeating Australia 2-1 and when once again bringing property the coveted urn. Andrew Strauss was named the Man of the Series for his contribution with the bat.

Perhaps the greatest achievement for Andrew Strauss’s captaincy was winning the 2010-11 Ashes series in Australia, producing him the third English captain after Mike Brearley and Len Hutton to win an Ashes series at residence and away. England won the series 3-1, which also produced Ricky Ponting, the captain of the Australian team to turn into the very first Australian captain to surrender the Ashes thrice.

The 2011 Cricket World Cup, was rather erratic for England. They won against South Africa, but lost to minnows Ireland and Bangladesh. England crashed out of the quarter-final stage of the Globe Cup, however, not a lot of questions had been asked on Strauss’s captaincy as it was normally agreed that English players had played too much cricket just before the Globe Cup, leading to fatigue and injuries to their star players.

As Simon Hughes, a cricket journalist who spent some time with Andrew Strauss for a book, points out, Andrew Strauss may not have the aura or the invincibility that one typically associates with a captain, his capacity to stay calm in essential situations, backed by the immense belief that he has in himself has created him 1 of the highly rated cricketers in the planet.

Andrew Strauss

Andrew Strauss 129 Runs 2005 5th Test The Oval

Andrew Strauss 126 Vs Pakistan_2nd Odi_2010

Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting Biography
Full Name: Ricky Thomas Ponting
Date of Birth: December 19, 1974
Place of Birth: Launceston, Tasmania
Marital Status: Married Rianna Jennifer Cantor in June 2002
Children: daughter, Emmy Charlotte, born on July 26, 2008
Parents: Graeme (played for Mowbray) and Lorraine (sister of Greg Campbell)
Siblings: Drew and Renee (both younger)
Ponting is the eldest of three children; he was born and raised in Launceston, Tasmania by parents Graeme and Lorraine. Ricky started playing cricket at age 7, and showed immediate promise. He was known to be rich in talent ever since he was 12 when he became the youngest person in the world to have a bat sponsor as he was signed by Kookaburra. Obviously people knew that in the future he would be a star. Ponting excelled in junior levels as he was already playing 1st/A Grade cricket when he was 12 and had made it into Youth State and National sides with ease.

He attended school at Mowbray Primary and then Brooks Senior High School in Launceston, and then attended the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy from 1992 to 1993.

Ponting reached international standards at a young age for a batsman, making his One Day International debut in early 1995 and making his Test debut at the end of the year aged 20. However, his progress was not unhindered. He lost his place in the team several times due to lack of form and discipline issues, before rising to the ODI captaincy in early 2002 and becoming Test captain in early 2004. As of March 2008, he is the second highest ranked ODI batsman and ranked third amongst Test batsman in the ICC ratings.

Ponting is considered one of the best cricketers in modern cricket, and is ranked 2nd in the One-Day International Batting chart. He has scored over 9,500 Test runs at an average near 60, but since the February 2002 tour of South Africa (when he was elevated to the ODI team captaincy) he has scored 24 of his Test centuries and averaged above 74, leading to comparisons with Sir Donald Bradman.

Ponting is also Australia's leading ODI run-scorer and century maker he has the second most centuries ever, behind only Tendulkar. His century against the West Indies in Jaipur at the 1996 Cricket World Cup made him the youngest ever World Cup centurion, and his unbeaten 140 against India in the 2003 Cricket World Cup final was the highest by a captain in a World Cup final. In 2007 Cricket World Cup match against South Africa at St Kitts, Ponting became the first Australian to reach 10,000 runs in ODI Cricket and the 7th in world cricket to achieve this distinction.

Like many Australian batsmen, Ricky Ponting is particularly strong against pace bowling, with the full array of back foot shots, including the pull, hook, and square cut. Early on, he was regarded as a near-compulsive hooker, but he has lately moderated this tendency. He tends to move across his off stump, and has therefore been regarded as vulnerable to LBW early in his innings. He is less adept against spin bowling, particularly on very helpful spinning pitches such as those in India where his average is just 12.28.

After his first 30 Tests in just under four years his average was 38.62, and after rising into the mid-40s had dipped again to 40.50 after 45 Tests. Since that time his average has consistently risen; his averages in recent calendar years are 70.93 in 2002, 100.20 in 2003, 41.00 in 2004, 67.13 in 2005 and 88.86 in 2006.

Ponting occasionally bowls medium pace, and has also experimented with off-spin. He is an outstanding fieldsman square of the wicket or at silly point, with fast reactions and hand-eye coordination and (especially in the one-day game) a reputation for hitting the stumps to run out opposition batsmen. A report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the second highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the sixth highest success rate.

Ponting is a keen supporter and number one ticket holder of the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League. On 9 August 2007, Ponting appeared on The AFL Footy Show where he talked about his desire to join the club's board. He also supports Blue Square Premier side Altrincham F.C.after befriending chairman Geoff Goodwin. He owns 500 shares in the club and attended a pre-season friendly in 2009.

After marrying long-time girlfriend—law student Rianna Jennifer Cantor in June 2002, Ponting credited her as the reason for his increased maturity. On 26 February 2008, it was announced that they were expecting their first child. Daughter Emmy Charlotte was born in Sydney, Australia on 26 July 2008

Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting 140* vs India 2003 World Cup Final

Ricky Ponting 196