When Ricky Ponting made his ODI debut for South Africa in February 1995, cricket pundits worldwide, fans, and former cricketers knew that Ponting would add a new feature to Australian cricket’s playing style. The middle-order batter became an integral part of the Australian batting line-up playing under the captaincy of Mark Taylor and, later on, Steve Waugh, that dominated world cricket.
Ponting scored 13378 runs in 168 Tests registering 41 centuries and 62 half-centuries. He has converted six of his century scores to double-centuries, with the highest score being 257.
(Bonus Stat: The top five highest individual Test scores while playing as captain)
In ODIs, he scored 13704 runs in 365 ODIs registering 30 centuries and 82 half-centuries with the highest score of 164. He is still the highest run scorer for Australia in ODIs and Tests.
Ponting took over the ODI captaincy from Steve Waugh in 2002 and the Test captaincy in 2004. As a captain, Ponting was aggressive, clever, and prudent with his decision-making.
He was temperamentally tough and was known to take gutsy decisions. Under his captaincy, Australia registered some memorable wins. This piece explains how the former Australian skipper took Australian cricket to the top. Let’s analyse his captaincy records in all formats in detail:
| FORMAT | MATCHES | WON | LOST | DRAWN | NO RESULT | WIN% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 77 | 48 | 16 | 13 | – | 62% |
| ODIs | 230 | 165 | 51 | 2 | 12 | 77% |
| T20Is | 17 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 41% |
Ricky Ponting Captaincy Record in Tests
Ponting is one of the most successful skippers in the longer format. He took over the captaincy of the Test team in 2004 when Steve Waugh retired and successfully led the side till 2010.
In 77 Test matches as captain, Ponting won 48 matches, lost 16, and 13 ended in a draw. He has the second-lowest number of losses to his name when it comes to skippers leading their sides in more than 70 Test matches. More precisely, for someone with the 4th highest appearance in Test cricket as captain, he is not part of the list of the top ten captains with the most number of Test losses ever, which tells how successful he had been as captain.
From September 2005 to January 2008, Australia was undefeated in 22 Tests under “Punter’s” captaincy.
Ricky Ponting Captaincy Record in the Ashes & BGT Series
Ponting wasn’t that successful in leading his team in the Ashes series. In 19 Ashes matches, the former skipper won 8 but lost 6. He became the first skipper after Allan Border to lose an Ashes Series at home. Ponting was the skipper when Australia lost the Ashes at home during the 2010-11 series. As a captain, Ponting lost 3 Ashes series and won just 1. Find here the best captains of Ashes history.
Against India, where the Test series is named Border Gavaskar Trophy, Ricky Ponting has an even worse captaincy record, with his team winning only 2 matches in the 11 they played against the Men in blue. You can find the captains with the best winning percentage in the BGT series here.
Ricky Ponting Captaincy Record in ODIs
Leading Australia in 230 ODI matches, Ponting won 165 games as a skipper.
His count of 51 lost matches as captain is the lowest for any captain who has led his side in more than 150 matches. His winning percentage as a skipper in Tests is 62%, while his winning percentage in ODIs is 77%. He was the skipper of Australia for 10 years, which is yet another record. Ponting won 34 back-to-back ODIs as skipper.
Ricky Ponting Captaincy Record in T20Is
Ponting didn’t lead Australia in T20Is for too long. Before his retirement in 2012, he was the skipper of the Australian T20I side during the 2007 T20I World Cup in South Africa when Australia lost to India in the semifinals. Later on, he was the skipper of the side that played 2 T20Is against India in India in October 2007.
Ricky Ponting Captaincy Record in World Cup and other ICC events
Ponting led the team with dogged determination and resoluteness. Ponting has produced some class performances in World Cup and other ICC events as a batsman. Still, when it comes to his captaincy, Ponting has been the most successful Australian skipper and the best skipper of all time in big events.
Under his captaincy, Australia won two limited-overs World Cups in 2003 and 2007. His intensity on the field inspired his teammates in the bigger tournaments and that reflected much bigger in the team’s results.
In 29 World Cup matches as captain, Ponting won 26 matches which is incredible. Ponting lost only two games as captain in all World Cup matches, and one game ended with no result.
Under his captaincy, Australia won two ICC Champions Trophies in 2006 and 2009.
Ricky Ponting Batting Record as Captain
| FORMAT | RUNS | INNINGS | AVERAGE | 100s | 50s | HIGH SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODI | 8497 | 220 | 42.91 | 22 | 51 | 164 |
| TEST | 6542 | 140 | 51.51 | 19 | 35 | 209 |
| T20I | 401 | 16 | 28.64 | 0 | 2 | 98* |
Ponting scored 8497 runs in 220 ODIs as a skipper – the highest among any captain in the format’s history. The right-hander bailed the team out of trouble many times during critical moments. He scored 22 centuries and 51 half-centuries in his ODI career as skipper with a highest score of 164 and an average of 42.91.
During his tenure as Test captain, Ponting scored 6542 runs with an average of 51 and a highest score of 209. He scored 19 centuries and 35 half-centuries as a skipper in Tests. He is also the third fastest to 4000 Test runs as captain. Find the top five here.
Conclusion
Like his batting, Ricky Ponting excelled as a captain in Tests and ODIs. His Ashes record as a captain is somewhat mediocre, but the former skipper is surely one of the greatest captains of all time. His captaincy records speak about his leadership traits, and these figures look unbreakable.
