RICKY POINTING

The one-day international cricket has evolved in to a new trend. Australia has become the first team in the 2349-match history ofthe 50-over game to break the 400-run barrier - a target that, not so long ago, was considered an impossibility. Skipper Ricky Pointing registered a blazing highest one-day score with 164, the Australians obliterated their previous highest total of 5-368 and eclipsed Sri Lanka's decade-old world record of 5-398 against the minnows of Kenya. Their final score of 4-434 will live long in the memory of those gathered at the Wanderers ground in Johannesburg, many of whom watched Ponting plunder an unbeaten 140 in the World Cup final here three years ago to lead Australia to victory.Acclaimed by academy coach Rod Marsh as the best teenage batsman he had ever seen, Ricky Ponting began with Tasmania at 17 and Australia at 20, and was given out unluckily for 96 on his Test debut. He was and remains the archetypal modern cricketer: he plays all the shots with a full flourish of the bat and knows only to attack, and his breathtaking, dead-eye fielding is a force in the game by itself. A gambler and a buccaneer, he is a natural at one-day cricket. He has had his setbacks, against probing seam attacks and high-class finger-spin, which, when out of form, he plays with hard hands.With many lessons learned, Ponting's growing maturity was acknowledged by the ACB when he saw off competition from Warne and Gilchrist to succeed Steve Waugh as Australia's one-day captain early in 2002. It was a seamless transition: Ponting led the successful 2003 World Cup campaign from the front, clouting a coruscating 140 not out in the final, and acceded to the Test crown when Waugh finally stepped down early in 2004. A broken thumb suffered in the Champions Trophy in England forced him to watch Adam Gilchrist lead Australia's first series victory in India for 35 years from the dressing room, although he returned for the final Test. Batting-wise his first year was one to forget, but he began his second with 207 against Pakistan, joining Don Bradman and Greg Chappell as the only Australians to reach four double-centuries.By the time an eagerly awaited Ashes series got underway, however, the cracks in a previously invincible Australian side were beginning to appear. A humiliating one-day defeat against Bangladesh caused the first ripple of dissent against his leadership style, and this grew as the summer progressed, with many pundits feeling his approach was wooden when compared to the wily Shane Warne. A heroic 156 helped saved the Old Trafford Test, but on September 12, 2005, Ponting became the first Australian captain since Allan Border in 1986-87 to taste defeat in an Ashes series.In the recently concluded second test against South Africa, Ricky Ponting added glory to his impressive collection of individual records in the second Test as Australia targeted a series victory by setting South Africa 410. With his twin centuries Ponting became only the second player alongside Sunil Gavaskar to achieve the mark in three matches, and he also stepped ahead of Don Bradman's 29 hundreds to sit two behind Steve Waugh, the leading Australian.In recent ODI against South Africa, his 164 from 105 deliveries - including 13 fours and nine sixes - was the third-highest total and second-fastest century (71 deliveries) by an Australian batsman. The innings also elevated him to third place on the one-day international century list (19), behind only Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.By his current blazing form and ever exuberant mood, Ricky Ponting now is the serious contender to break Sachin Tendulkar records.Could Ricky Ponting be the best Australian batsman since Sir Donald Bradman? Well that is very much in cards.