Player battles: Ricky Ponting vs Harbhajan Singh

#5 Quotes

Despite their rivalry, they had nothing but respect and admiration for each other

After all the years of rivalry, there was, finally, a thawing in the relations. Although they were always at loggerheads during their playing careers, both Harbhajan and Ponting had utmost respect for each other as far as cricket was concerned.

In 2012, Harbhajan heaped praise on his nemesis as he said, "Ponting will be in my top five Test batsmen ever against whom I played. He was the kind of cricketer who could win matches on his own. An outstanding fielder, his body language throughout his career is something we all look up to.

“He brought so much passion and enthusiasm to the field each time he walked in. That earned him command as a leader and a lot of respect for what he has achieved.

"I and Ricky were never friends, but I have a lot of respect for him and for what he has done for cricket."

Speaking about his adversary in 2016, Ponting had admitted he still had nightmares about Harbhajan.

"My arch nemesis when I was playing against India was Harbhajan Singh,” Ponting said. “I still get nightmares about him."