Ponting goes on and on and on ...
Less than three months after he scored twin centuries in his hundredth test, Ricky Ponting went past yet another milestone today, against South Africa at Durban, when he scored his 29th test century, drawing level with Sir Don Bradman. He is at #5 in the list of top century makers. Only Tendulkar and Lara have scored more centuries among batsmen still in action.
Ponting and Dravid continue to chase each other's stats. They're now separated by 2 tests, 2 not outs, 122 runs and .05 batting average points. Ponting obviously has the greater number of centuries, Dravid has more fifties. Dravid leads on the catches front, with 138 catches to Ponting's 116. I'm fairly sure Ponting has more run-outs.
We're privileged to watch two totally contrasting masters go neck and neck towards greatness, as if they're not there already!
The other unfortunate coincidence between the two is that they both ended up with plenty of egg on the face after sending England in at Old Trafford and Wankhede Stadium.
Labels: bradman
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| Wuld Ponting now not increase the distance between himself and Dravid. Dravid has to carry the team and his batting stats will surely suffer while Ponting can afford to be more agressive.
By 
Libero (25 Mar 2006, 3:40:00 pm)
Pointing has a poor record in india . What with turning pitches and quality spinners. Dravid is a more allround player.
Sorry Prashanth I was not saying that Ponting was better than Dravid, just that Ponting plays for Australia and has more freedom to bat how he wants. I also believe that Dravid has a tighter technique and his record against all teams shows this.
By Libero (26 Mar 2006, 11:15:00 pm)
prashanth: If you're suggesting that Ponting is "less" great because of his record in India, you'd perhaps also suggest that Warne is "less" great because of _his_ poor record in India as well?
sesh: I fully expect Ponting to go past Tendulkar's 35 centuries mark - perhaps make 50 test centuries, given he still has 4-5 years of cricket left.
By Jagadish (27 Mar 2006, 10:57:00 am)
a true champion would have a good record no matter the condition,the team or the pitch woudn't he.
Now if Dhoni blasts everyone in a flat pitchs and fizzels out in seaming/bouncing pitches can he be considered the best in the world.
jagadish: no doubt Ponting will go past Tendulkar's 35 centuries, but not quite sure about the 50 mark. Ponting seems to have hit a purple patch and is making the most of it, but history clearly suggests that such patches dont last longer than 5-6 years, unless of course, your name happens to be Don Bradman! sure, Ponting will go on to make a few more but I'm not sure he can repeat what he's done in the last 5 years.
Speaking about his race with Dravid, all Dravid has to do now is win the World Cup and things will be all even ;)
prashanth: If Dhoni does this over a 10-15 year career, and has one blip, I'd not think too much about it. That is exactly the case with Ponting, Warne, Kumble etc.
arjun: Not really. Ponting has 29 centuries over nearly 10 years in test cricket => an average of 3 per year. If he plays for another 5 years he'll very likely get to 50.
By Jagadish (27 Mar 2006, 12:13:00 pm)
He's heading for four this year already, with Bangladesh to come. His conversion rate is truly outstanding.
geoff: Indeed. All set to join Gavaskar on hundred in each innings thrice. Given his form, I predict four single digit scores for him against Bangladesh :)
By Jagadish (27 Mar 2006, 3:39:00 pm)
I'll predict a single four-digit score then. Get the Queensland lot in.
geoff: Your prediction wasn't meant to in any way imply that my predictive skills are hopeless, correct? :) In any case, he's just got to #30. Boring boring Ponting!
By Jagadish (27 Mar 2006, 4:55:00 pm)
Jagadish : Poinitng is a great batsman . But is he in the league of Sachin or Lara. They both can play on any pitches and any type of bowlers. Pointing hasn't played that many matches in India. Maybe his record might improve or maybe not.
prashanth: I think he is great. He will be considered to be in the same league in the next two-three years. At any rate, he (and Dravid) will be mentioned in the same breath as those two when they finish their careers. Lara's career record in & against India is not as great as his overall record. Neither he nor Tendulkar could really make their sides good ones when they were captains. Does that diminish their achievements? I don't think so.
By Jagadish (27 Mar 2006, 6:49:00 pm)
Can we really measure batsmen by their stats over time? Ponting and Dravid are surely great batsmen of this era but Kallis has comparable stats to them both. No-one really believes that Kallis is as good as either Ponting or Dravid and he won't be remembered as great.
What must surely matter over time is how Ponting is remembered, and he has as a batsmen won in every country.
By Libero (28 Mar 2006, 1:15:00 am)
libero: Over time, the numbers speak for themselves. Like I pointed out here and here, Kallis doesn't play according to the situation. That seems to cost South Africa a few games. I'm fairly sure it cost them the ongoing test. After blitzing away for his first fifty, he plodded on ... and South Africa were unable to take control of the game.
By Jagadish (28 Mar 2006, 12:18:00 pm)
A great comparison Dravid and Ponting. Dravid is a class act on and off the field (Ponting not so much off the field) - Ponting is sensational to watch when he's going, his footwork is awesome, pull shots drives, he's got the lot and can probably adapt his game better to the circumstances, but then I picture a Dravid cover drive, and well, it's hard to top...good comparison possibly never to be resolved.
By Stuart Helwig (30 Mar 2006, 3:53:00 am)
stu: Thanks. No need to resolve it. It'll perhaps replace the Tendulkar v Lara v Waugh arguments we've had for the best part of the last decade!
By Jagadish (30 Mar 2006, 10:31:00 pm)
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