Australia ended Day 1 of the second Test against India on 400 for 5, the highest total recorded in a single day at the Adelaide Oval. And even before the day was through the Aussie media were singing hosannas to Ricky Ponting, the Test captain-in-waiting.
Ponting's sublime 176 not out on Day 1 showed that he is undoubtedly among the world's leading batsmen. But Chloe Saltau argued that the Indians got their plans all wrong for the man once considered their bunny. In the 2001 series in India, Ponting had scored only 17 runs in five innings (0, 6, 0, 0, 11). But today, he proved that he had banished those demons from his psyche.
The dominance was very one-sided to begin with; all his 17 boundaries came on the off-side before he reached his century. "It became obvious that Australia's next Test captain was having the party of his life on an off side that appeared to be heavily defended, but was as porous as a Hessian bag."
So huge was his impact on the game that Peter Roebuck in the Age, Melbourne, commented that "Sourav Ganguly and his threadbare attack died the death of a thousand cuts".
Since the start of his career, Ponting has always been said to possess remarkable talent but only now does he have the maturity to complement his talent. And the results show.
Trevor Marshallsea, also of the Age, said that 'much talk ahead of this Test series centred on the supposed battle to determine who was the world's best batsman. In one corner was Matthew Hayden, in another, Sachin Tendulkar,' but with this innings Ponting has surely staked his claim too.
But the master batsman himself is unconcerned with all the talk about being the world's best. Bronwyn Hurrell of the Herald Sun spoke to Ponting about the ratings and opinions. And Ponting said his failures in India during the 2000-01 tour helped make him the batsman he is today.
"Looking back to India a couple of years ago, the reason I didn't succeed over there was because I didn't back my technique enough and it cost me," Ponting told Robert Craddock of the Advertiser.
Philip Derriman of the Sydney Morning Herald raised a point that every cricket fan must have asked himself when Steve Waugh announced that he will retire at the end of the Test series against India. 'The custom has been for players intending to retire to delay the announcement until just before their final Test. This is what David Boon did in 1995-96, Greg Chappell in 1983-84, and Neil Harvey in 1962-63. So why didn't Waugh follow suit?'
Did the Australian captain need the additional pressure? Will the nerves get the better of Waugh?
The Indians spent the day chasing leather, but Robert Earle of The Daily Telegraph feels that in their inexperienced bowling attack they have a star in the making.
'India's raw attack dog Irfan Pathan didn't snare a bag of wickets on the opening day of the second Test against Australia yesterday, but served notice that he has the bite to lead the Indian attack in the future,' Earle noted.
Another report in The Daily Telegraph mentioned that 'a decent eye was all you needed to make your own rules' at the Adelaide Oval. If that is true, then the famed Indian batting line-up should prosper too.
