Ponting - Is he better off punting or ranting?

To say that Ponting has been hard hit by the retirement of Brett Lee would not be an understatement. After his retirement, he has struggled to find a replacement for a bowler to lead the attack. His struggle is reminiscent of the Australian struggle in the 1980's. A look at the records will slams home the point that the best bowler  for the team averages around 31 apiece for his wickets

Seeing Ponting bat the way he did in Brisbane was as refreshing as it was worrying, because he let go of the shackles and attacked the bowlers with gay abandon and it was a pity that only he could have done it as the team lacks a player who carries the same sort of aura as him. The retirement of the class of 2007 has had an adverse impact on his batting fortunes  as he is not the same player that he was

Looking at this predicament of Ponting, similarities will be surely drawn up with that doughty Queenslander Allan Border . The advantage that Border had that Ponting does not is age- both his and his player's age. Border was around 29 when he took up the captaincy of the team and he invested in the youth. His team centered around David Boon, Geoff Marsh, Steve Waugh, and McDermott. As time flew by these players performed and held the flag aloft


In that manner Ponting does not have a trusted lieutenant and his captaincy career will always be split into two halves- one with Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer in the team and one without them. Winning this Ashes will go a long way in setting up his legacy for the days to come and he accepts as much

Worrying trend is the similarity in handling out the baggy green to the players from 2008 to that in 1985-86. We all know Australia started to turn round the corner in that series against India. They did lose the series to England back home but then started to make some progress culminating in the dominating effort at the Ashes in 1989

What Ponting needs to do now is to invest in a set of players that he foresees playing a major part in the team's fortunes for about a decade to come. Selecting Fergusson, Smith and players of their ilk will be a step in the right direction

And then he needs to take a page straight of Border's book by being strong with his players. Border, in that epic tied match in Chennai goaded Dean Jones by saying "You weak Victorian. I want a tough Australian out there. I want a Queenslander". 

Will this grim face be the ever-lasting image of Ponting?

That attitude when applied to certain players will work wonders for the team. So Ponting needs to work out an ideal combination of Punting and ranting to keep his legacy alive and to keep Australia at the top of stakes. Else they face the danger of going the West Indies way