Player battles: Ricky Ponting vs Harbhajan Singh

#3 Runs scored by Ponting against Harbhajan

Ponting fared a little better in ODIs

Going by the number of times Ponting fell prey to Harbhajan's wily bowling it might seem that the Australian was not too comfortable against spinners in general. However, on the contrary, the World Cup-winning captain was quite adept against right-arm spinners.

In fact, against Muttiah Muralitharan, the greatest off-spinner of all time, Ponting averaged an incredible 61.00 in Tests. Ponting’s average against right arm off-spinners in Tests stood at 57.60. His overall average against spin was 55.41. But when it came to Harbhajan – a bowler he wanted to smash into the stands – more often than not, he could barely get bat on the ball.

His Test batting average of 51.85 came down to 22.30 against an Indian side featuring Harbhajan. The Aussie managed only one century in 10 innings that he was dismissed by Harbhajan, and scored 223 runs in total. In ODIs, however, he fared a little better, averaging 35.00 in the matches he was dismissed by Harbhajan.