Former Aussie Skipper and veteran batsman Ricky Ponting ,has reportedly been approached by the CA, to be a special Batting consultant or even the Batting coach to the Australian cricket team, following their Ashes Debacle.
The Tasmanian, a modern cricketing giant in himself, has had a phenomenal Ashes record of 2476 runs at an average of 44.21 in 35 tests. Pat Howard, The executive general manager of team performance has in fact confirmed that the cricket board is indeed interested in the Talisman of Modern Australian cricket.
“We have spoken to Ricky a few times this year to be around the side. I am certainly very open to getting him involved and we would love to have him on board,” Howard had reportedly said.
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“I sense Ricky would also love to be involved. His time commitments are obviously one of the big challenges,” he added. Australian coach Darren Lehmann too dropped a hint when he was quoted, “There’s always dialogue behind the scenes with all our former greats to be perfectly honest … they’re always welcome.”
Ponting, who has been Australia’s leading run getter in Tests as well as the ODIs, also boasts of prior coaching success. The former skipper coached the Mumbai Indians to their title earlier this year and had been coaching the side a year ago too. Many young Indians also acknowledged that Ponting’s coaching style has indeed reshaped their game. Notable among them was India A skipper Unmukt Chand.
“Ricky is such a positive guy and so full of energy. He really boosts your morale, which is so important at this level. The best thing about Ricky is that if he believes in you, he backs you to the hilt,” Unmukt had said.
Let’s wait and watch, how successful Ponting can be in bringing the Aussie’s back to their A game.
