Colombo: Australian batsman Ricky Ponting believes that claims of batsmen fading in their mid-to-late 30s are overrated, and said that 38-year-old Indian batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are inspirations for every cr
“There’s inspiration for everyone, not just someone who’s 36. It’s inspirational to know that if you keep doing the things that have served you well in the past then it doesn’t matter how old you are – you can keep being a very good international player,” The Daily Telegraph quoted Ponting, as saying.
“Those guys are all top-order batsmen. There’s all this talk about your reflexes going and your eyesight going. I think that’s all been a bit overplayed. I don’t think it has got anything to do with that,” he added.
The 36-year-old further reiterated that despite an ageing body and falling batting average, he has no thoughts of retirement.
“I’ve talked to people in the past about it. They think it’s the hunger and the commitment to keep doing all the hard work that goes first. That certainly hasn’t gone from me. The last two years I’ve trained harder than I’ve ever trained before,” Ponting said.
“I’m in pretty good shape again. I’ll give it the best shot I can to follow in the footsteps of those blokes and have a really good 12 months,” he added.
Ponting, who was replaced as captain after Australia’s quarterfinal exit at the World Cup, has been included as a specialist batsman in the Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka.
Indo-Australia will be a good contest
Ponting feels that the year-end home series against India will not only be a keen contest but would also be a lot different as compared to when the Indian team plays any other opponent.
“I think they’re a lot different when they play us and (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni himself has made that pretty clear. He says he’s a walker against everybody except Australia. We’ll wait and see how they go out here,” Ponting told ‘Daily Telegraph’.
“It will be a good contest. Every contest we’ve had against them for 10 years has been a good contest, whether it was Twenty20, One-day or a Test match, it’s been great cricket,” said Ponting. (PTI)
