Ricky Ponting quits, Sachin Tendulkar struggles to stay

Ricky Ponting retired from Test cricket in a barrage of tears at Perth on Thursday. 

Seventeen years, 41 Test centuries, an eventful captainship and a deep-set bond with the boys over this period, it was a legendary career well-punctuated with success.

While Ponting took the difficult decision to walk away from what was the only form of life he knew for close to 20 years, because he had started failing too frequently, Sachin Tendulkar, at a similar juncture in his otherwise brilliant career, is still struggling to dust away the rust, desperate to give himself and the millions behind him that one last syrupy innings he is so capable of, wanting to perhaps step out of the crease forever in a blaze of glory.

The difference between the two greats of this era (though Tendulkar is mostly beyond compare for his contribution to the game), is as good or as bad as are the similarities. In the autumn of their iconic careers, both the legends have been struggling with runs; in the run-up to their respective international series, both had gone into domestic cricket for practice and polish — Sachin scoring a century in Ranji Trophy against Railways and Ponting not doing too badly either with a 162 not out against Victoria.

But in the two international Tests that both played shortly afterwards — India against England and Australia against South Africa — both have got out cheaply, Sachin averaging a mere 16.25 in the last five Tests and Ponting striking at the rate of 18.44 in same number of matches. At Ahmedabad, where India handed England a nine-wicket defeat, Sachin scored just 13 in the first innings. In Mumbai, he got a mere 8 and 8 in two innings, getting bowled once and India losing by 10 wickets on home ground. In the first Test at Brisbane, Ponting got out for a duck in the one innings he played. In Adelaide, he scored 4 and 16, getting bowled in both innings, a first in his otherwise remarkable career. 

The other similarities exist in the pain the two have been experiencing due to their decline in form. Sachin, who has lived in the gaze of immense adoration and is now facing raised eyebrows, is yet to take a call on his last one, preferring instead to leave it to the selectors to decide on his presence or absence from the team. Ponting, in a similar struggle mentally, preferred to call it time. Yes, it was a teary occasion, one of the rarest times when Punter broke down along with his team-mates, but he was sure he needed to walk. “I have given cricket my everything, I have no more to give. This (my family) is my new team,” he told a Press conference at Perth where he will be playing his last Test today. 

Sachin goes into Kolkata, his third Test in this series, he does so amid niggling questions around his presence in the team. As Ponting goes into Perth, his last Test, it will be to a hero’s welcome worldwide. It must be excruciating for Sachin to maintain a sustained silence about his inevitable retirement — as excruciating as Ponting said was his decision to hang up his gloves. 

But herein lies the difference. When he was too week to hold on, he got strong enough to let go. That’s Ricky Ponting for you. Sadly, that’s not Sachin Tendulkar, yet. But before one goes hammer and tongs at Sachin, there is this fact one must not ignore — it’s the difference of cultures too that shape the two players differently. While Cricket Australia is known to be ruthless and professional in its choice of team, BCCI is far from this. While Ponting may have risked being sacked if he continued, no one yet will be doing the talking with Sachin Tendulkar in our side of the world.

Source: The Pioneer, 30 November, 2012