Ricky Ponting and the Australian World Cup Team
Ricky Ponting’s era is clearly over but for some reasons, the stakes are still stashed in favour of the Aussies. 19 teams have played World Cup so far but only 5 of them could lay their hands on the World Cup Trophy. But Australia has won the World Cup a record 4 times out of 10 so far. It just goes on to highlight what a tremendous record they enjoy in World Cup tournaments. They won it in 1987 against England, in 1999 against Pakistan, in 2003 against India and in 2007 against Sri Lanka. And what’s more? They are the only team to make a Hat-Trick in World Cup victories.
Sneak a peek into cricket’s history and you’ll remember there was a time when Team Australia dominated the world cricket for more than a decade. They were the unbeatables in all formats and the No.1 spot in the rankings always remained untouched and unchallenged for. Aussies were known to snatch victories from death and bulldoze good teams into submission, like they did to India in the epic finals of 2003 by amassing a huge 359-2 in 50 overs.
But things have changed now. The legends have quit the game and the winning streaks have diminished. In fact, the current Australian team is said to be the most vulnerable Australian team in the living memory. In their last outing, the Australian team under the captaincy of Ricky Ponting stormed into the semi-finals, only to be beaten by hosts India. The loss had a far reaching impact on the future of Australian cricket.
The Australians after their ICC Cricket World Cup Victory
Now, there are no Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Glen McGrath, Brett Lee and Shane Warne in the side. Instead a whole new bunch of youngsters will try to take forward Australia’s glorious legacy left by some of all-time legends. The team is now under Michael Clarke’s captaincy. He has already played 2 World Cups before (in 2005 & 2011) and has been bestowed upon the difficult task of supervising what is seen as a transformational phase in Australian cricket.
But don’t forget that one thing that the Kangaroos will have is the home advantage. Australia can give a hard time to their opponents in the middle as pitches in Australia are bouncy, faster and skidy. That’s why it’s called ‘World Toughest Backyard’. As Australia get prepared to once again aim for the big trophy, history will be on their side and fortunes will smile upon them.
