Shane #Watson has worked as hard as anybody around his cricket: Ricky #Ponting


Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has lent his support to under-fire vice-captain Shane Watson, saying he backs Shane’s decision to return home at the time of the birth of his first child.

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Watson was barred by team management from taking part in the third Test against India in Mohali along with three other cricketers for disciplinary reasons.

The all-rounder flew back home to be by the side of his wife Lee Furlong. The couple announced Thursday the birth of their son Will.

“Shane worked as hard as anybody around his cricket, there’s no doubt about that,” Ponting was quoted as saying by The Age.

“He’s obviously made a blue here – I don’t like to refer to it as homework because it wasn’t homework – not getting his tasks done that were given to him by the coach.”

“I’ve never known him to be anything other than a very good team player and a great bloke to have around your team.”

Ponting, who Thursday scored his 80th first class hundred in a Shield match against Victoria, praised Watson’s commitment and passion for the game and asked the media not to look too much into high-performance manager Pat Howard‘ comments on Watson’s team commitment.

“I loved every moment that I played with Watto,” he said.

“To tell the truth, I think I understood him and his personality as well as anyone that I ever played with.”

“I tried to get as close to him as I could.”

Ponting said, “I tried to know him as well as I could both on and off the field and I actually felt by doing that I got as much out of him as I could as a player.”

Ponting said Howard’s comments were made under pressure.

“Pat’s known Shane for 12 months and (Australian captain) Michael (Clarke) and Shane have known each other for the best part of 20 years,” he said.

Ponting, who also returned home from Sri Lanka two years ago to be alongside his wife, said Watson’s decision to fly back home was the right one.

“(It’s) obviously a personal decision and he probably doesn’t care how it looks,” he said.

“What the girls go through when we’re away is hard enough as it is but there’s certain things in your personal life you don’t want to miss.”

2013 IPL Auctions: Players Who Made Big Bucks


Cricket is a game that not just attracts Indians but people worldwide. The Indian Premier League or IPL is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket championship in India and has been keenly followed by all. The world’s richest cricket tournament auctions this year saw team buyers picking their choices and here are players who hit jack pot this season, as listed by the Economic Times.

Glenn Maxwell:

Country: Australia
Team: Mumbai Indians
Price: $1 million (Rs 5.3 crore)
Base Price: $200,000

Glen is an all-rounder, bowling right-arm off spin and batting with an average of over 30 for Victoria in interstate one day cricket. He set the record for the fastest ever half-century in Australian interstate one day cricket in 2011, reaching 50 runs off 19 balls. He certainly got a hefty price tag at IPL’s auction.

Ajantha Mendis:

Country: Sri Lanka
Team: Pune Warriors
Price: $725,000 (Rs 3.8 crore)
Base Price: $50,000

Mendis is known for his slow-medium, bowling a mixture of deliveries, including googlies, off-breaks, top-spinners, flippers and leg-breaks, as well as the carrom ball, released with a flick of his middle finger. He hit jack pot this IPL auction with a tag of 3.8 crore.

Kane Richardson:

Country: Australia
Team: Pune Warriors
Price: $700,000 (Rs 3.7 crore)
Base Price: $100,000

Third on the list is Kane Richardson who was bought by the Pune Warriors for $700,000 in the IPL auction. He is a right arm fast bowler swings ball into right-handers and gets a good bounce. On the back of his strong performances for South Australia and the Adelaide Strikers, Kane replaced the injured Mitchell Starc in the 2nd one day international against Sri Lanka in January this year making his international debut.

Abhishek Nayar:

Country: India
Team: Pune Warriors
Price: $675,000 (Rs 3.6 crore)
Base Price:$100,000

Abhishek Nayar is an all-rounder who bats left-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace. He is the highest paid Indian in this auction. Abishek has time and again got Mumbai crucial breakthrough’s in his young unsurpassed career.

Thisara Perera:

Country: Sri Lanka
Team: Sunrisers Hyderabad
Price: $675,000 (Rs 3.6 crore)
Base Price: $ 50,000

Thisara Perera represents Sri Lanka at the Test, One Day International and Twenty20 levels. He is an aggressive left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He surfaced as a big impact player for Sri Lanka. He was bought for a whopping Rs 3.6 crore.

Chris Morris:

Country: South Africa
Team: Chennai Super Kings
Price: $ 625,000 (Rs 3.3 crore)
Base Price: $20,000

Chris Morris is bought by Chennai Super Kings for a whopping 3.3 crore. He is another great player who is already being compared with Lance Kluseer for his ability as match-finisher, both with bat and ball. His auction price surpassed his base price by more than 30 times.

S Senanayake:

Country: Sri Laka
Team: Kolkata Knight Riders
Price: $625,000 (Rs 3.3 crore)
Base Price: $ 50,000

Senanayake is an all-rounder; he bats right-handed and bowls off spin. The 27-year-old has been top bowler in Sri Lanka’s domestic ODI circuit. He made his international debut for Sri Lanka in the fourth One Day International (ODI) of the tour of South Africa in January last year. His call-up followed a domestic season where he had taken the most wickets in the Sri Lankan Premier League limited overs tournament.

Michael Clarke:

Country: Australia
Team: Pune Warriors
Base Price: $400,000 (Rs 2.1 crore)

Michael Clarke, nicknamed ‘Pup’ is a right-handed middle-order batsman, and an occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler. In November 2012, he scored a double century at the Adelaide Oval, making him the only Test batsman to ever achieve four double centuries in a calendar year. He is known for his partnerships with Mike Hussey. He went to Pune Warriors for his base price of $400,000.

Ricky Ponting:

Country: Australia
Team: Mumbai Indians
Base Price: $400,000 (Rs 2.1 crore)

Ponting is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as an extremely occasional bowler. He is widely considered by many to be the best batsman of the modern era, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Jacques Kallis, etc. Ponting went to Mumbai Indians fetching base price of $400,000.

Phil Huges:
Country: Australia
Team: Mumbai Indians

Nathan McCullum
Country: New Zealand
Team Sunrisers Hyderabad

Clint McKay
Country: Australia
Team: Sunrisers Hyderabad

Phil Huges, Nathan McCullum and Clint McKay went into their respective IPL teams for $100,000.
South African cricketer Ryan McLaren went into Kolkata Knight Riders for $ 50,000.
Only 37 players out of 108 found buyers and those ignored include Martin Guptill, Aaron Finch, and Vernon Philander.

Tribute: Ricky Ponting’s illustrious career


A rundown of former Australia captain Ricky Ponting‘s international career after he said on Thursday he will retire from test cricket after this week’s third match against South Africa.

* Born: Dec 19, 1974 at Launceton, Tasmania In tests:

* Matches: 167 (won 48 out of 77 tests as captain)

* Debut: Against Sri Lanka at Perth on Dec. 8, 1995

* Total runs: 13366 – Second highest scorer in the world behind India‘s Sachin Tendulkar (15562)

* Centuries: 41- Third highest number of centuries behind Tendulkar (51) and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (44).

* Double centuries: 6

* Batting average: 52.21

* Highest score: 257

* Wickets: 5

* Catches: 196

In ODIs:

* Matches: 375 (won 165 of 230 as captain)

* Debut: Against South Africa at Wellington on Feb. 15, 1995

* Total runs in ODIs: 13,704 * Second highest scorer behind India’s Tendulkar (18426)

* Centuries: 30 – Second highest number of centuries behind Tendulkar (49)

* Batting average: 42.03

* Highest score: 164

As Australian legend Ricky Ponting announced his retirement from international game, the cricketing world congratulated the former captain for his brilliant 17-year-old career.

Ponting, who turns 38 on December 19, scored 13,366 runs at an average of 52.21 in 167 Tests. His highest score was 257. He also scored 41 centuries and 62 half-centuries. He played 375 One-Day Internationals, scoring 13,704 runs at an average of 42.03, including 30 centuries and a highest score of 164.

Glenn McGrath
Well done Punter on an incredible career. It would be great to see you finish with a ton. It was an honour to play alongside of you. legend

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Matthew Hayden
Punter, congratulations on a fantastic career. Your departure will be a massive hole in the Australian Cricket team.

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Shane Warne
Congrats to Ricky Ponting on an amazing career, well done Punter… Enjoy your last match in Perth buddy, was a pleasure playing with you!!!

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Kevin Pietersen
Ricky Ponting RETIRES…. ONE OF THE GREATS! I always got excited playing AUS, so I could watch him bat up close. Well done Punter!

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Courtney Walsh
Well played Ricky Ponting on a great career. Hope you end it on a very high mate. Good luck, as there is plenty life after cricket

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Herschelle Gibbs
What a player, entertainer of note and an all-time great Ricky Ponting! Always loved his approach to batting.

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Michael Vaughan
The best batsman I had the privilege to play against … Australia cricket will not be the same without him. Ricky was a very underestimated bowler as well… Quicker than he looks!

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Virat Kohli
Ricky ponting what an absolute legend. I am glad I had the honour of playing against him. Take a bow…

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Ajinkya Rahane
A legend announced retirement. The cricket world will miss Ricky Ponting on the field.

Sanjay Manjrekar
A a great driver and a great puller! That’s one thing that really stood out for me. Enriched the game by his feats. From this moment on, there will be only nice things said about Ponting :) Ponting came out of that very typical Australian mould of batsmen. He was the quintessential Aussie batsman in style and approach

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Murali Kartik
A very sad day for world cricket, Ricky-1 of the Greatest modern day bats, a former teammate and the consummate professional. Go well mate. Cherish the greats till they are playing, watching international cricket will never be the same without these champions.

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England bowler Stuart Broad via twitter: “Huge respect for how Ponting played the game. Tough competitor Aussies will miss him. 100 at Perth to finish?”

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West Indies batting great Brian Lara via twitter: “Ricky u will go down as one of the greats! “I batted with Ricky once at the MCG, what a great experience that was, 4 such a great cause Tsunami victims.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith: “I’ve played a lot against Ricky and he’s certainly the most competitive man I’ve played against. “I think the way he played the game and intensity with which he played the game is a credit to him. I think he’s always represented Australia with a lot of dignity and a lot of skill.”