Leave Ricky Ponting alone!

It’s nearly the end of an epic saga; all over one man’s insatiable urge to locate, find and trade a priceless diamond for money; lots of money. Danny Archer is struggling for breath. He is on the phone talking to Maddy Bowen. Danny is in Sierra Leone. Maddy is in a place which is the antithesis of Sierra Leone. Maddy thinks she has a chance to rescue Danny and is pleading with him to listen to her. Danny, on the other hand, refuses the offer. He says he has no inclination to leave. He is about to die but still musters up the courage to say, “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be”.

Ricky Ponting may not really be struggling for breath, at least literally anyway. But he is exactly where he is supposed to be at the moment: at the heart of Australia’s middle order. Orchestrator of many a turnaround, Ponting is now being asked to turnaround his own form; which has not been anywhere near acceptable for a batsman of his caliber over the last few years. But as is the norm when somebody is in a slump, the media, the public, the fans that have come to adore him, the ones who have compared his pull shot as the best thing since sliced cheese, are now calling for his head.

Big players, and Ponting is certainly one of them, don’t need stages to show their worth to the team. He creates his own stage. Like the one in 2003 World Cup final where he batted India out of the contest. The World Cup final didn’t make Ponting. The aussie veteran made “that” World Cup final his own stage.

Every great player has gone through and will continue to grow through dry patches. India’s Rahul Dravid was in a trough lower than the Mariana Trench – deepest part of the world’s largest ocean: The Pacific – last year. Yet, he has reinvented himself and is turning back the clock with some sublime knocks.

A quick look into Cricinfo’s Statsguru says that Ponting has averaged 25.44 in his last 14 Tests. Is that good enough for Ponting? No. Is that good enough for one of the greatest No. 3’s of the modern era? No, and Ponting will be the first to acknowledge that. But does this run directly mean that Ponting will have to make way for someone way younger? Fortunately, no.

Time and again statistics have played an important role into analyzing the importance of a sportsman’s contribution to a team. None more so than when the sportsman in question goes through a patch dryer than the pitch being currently used at the Wankhede stadium where India are playing West Indies in the third Test match. But Ponting brings much more to the table than just runs. Australia have always made a conscious effort to groom captains elect when current captains still had a fair time to go on their watch. Michael Clarke was the captain-in-waiting even as Ponting carved open the record books in 2007 to win that most farcical of World Cups ever played in the game. It would be such a shame if Ponting would now be asked to leave without overseeing that transition completely.

A quick look at the Australian line-up will see that Ponting is currently sandwiched between Usman Khwaja, a fledgling at this level, and Clarke, one who is still learning how to delegate, be authoritative and at the same time retain his original nickname: Pup.

In such a situation, do the media and the fans really want someone else in his place? Granted this someone will have been fully vetted by Australia’s Sheffield Shield. But Australia’s domestic scene has not been all that rosy for the last couple of years. It’s not as if they can find another Michael Hussey from amidst the plethora of domestic cricketers. Give Ponting that little leeway that you guys use when one of your own celebrated batsman or bowler go through a lean spell. That most favourite of sporting clichés, “Allow a legend to retire on his terms.” is one of the most irritating in sport. But when it comes to Ponting, it’s not yet at time. For among other reasons, he still has the diamond with him. And nobody is strong enough yet to fight for the diamond that he currently has.

He has not found his Soloman Vandy yet. He may never find him, unlike Danny, but he needs to be given a fair chance to pass on the diamond and it will be very cruel if Australia does not give him that opportunity just when they look to be coming into some sort of shape.

If that’s not enough reason, let the world enjoy a Ponting v Sachin Tendulkar debate for one last time before one, or possibly both, batsmen walk into the horizon after having passed on the burden of carrying that stone for many a year. And that series, which is due to begin in about a month’s time, will be tailor-made for someone like Ponting: he loves playing against India at Australia in the longer format.