Just when you think the man is dead and buried, up he jumps, perky as a teenager with a bottle of alcopop and reminds you that he's very much alive and kicking. That's the story over the past few weeks of Ricky Ponting. Seemingly a spent force after ceding the captaincy of first the ODI side then the Test team to Michael Clarke, Punter clearly knew what the selectors suspected, that he had plenty more runs in him; it was only a matter of time. That time has been January 2012.
OK, so he has been facing a demoralised Indian outfit wondering how they can have deteriorated so badly with a team which were the undisputed kings of cricket just ten months ago. Nevertheless, after more than 16 years, 162 Tests and 370 ODIs, Ponting has proved he still has the appetite to push on for himself and his country. He now has 41 Test centuries to his name and, like fellow veteran Jacques Kallis, he's not happy with just a single hundred; a 'double' will do very nicely.
Until Perth he hadn't reached three figures for almost two years, since he scored 209 against Pakistan at Hobart. When he made that undignified but successful scramble for the crease on 99 a few weeks ago, the boyish grin showed how much that extra run meant to him and his fans. Clarke was clearly a big supporter, too. Unlike Tendulkar, Ponting has made a habit of making big tons. His first double-century came in 2003 in Port of Spain then in successive home Tests later that year he struck 242 and his career best to date of 257. The opposition? India, of course! The next two came against Pakistan, three years apart and now 221 in Adelaide. In Perth he played second fiddle to his captain but this week he outscored him, albeit narrowly, in runs if not strike rate. This was the Ponting of old and it's good to see him back.
The recent crushing defeats have piled pressure on the Indian old guard to retire gracefully before being dropped. That's tough on Tendulkar and Dravid, so dominant in 2010 and 2011, respectively, especially when you see what Ponting has achieved after a long lean spell. Maybe Ponting will choose to go after the 2013 Ashes unless his form evaporates completely before then. Some of the younger middle-order Aussie batsmen have failed to stake a commanding claim for the old-stager's position at four, just as has happened in India, and this has helped selectors keep faith when others demanded his head. This latest series has ensured he remains not just a great player of the past but also the Man of the Moment.
