Sport | Cricket
Hunger is the key: Ponting
His pride in his team has only increased, as Ricky Ponting is aware that they are a bunch who know their job very well. The Australian skipper couldn't be any happier.
- By K.R. Nayar, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:38 May 3, 2009
- Image Credit: AP
- An overjoyed Australian team celebrate with the World Cup trophy after they defeated Sri Lanka in the rain-marred final at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on Saturday.
Bridgetown, Barbados: His pride in his team has only increased, as Ricky Ponting is aware that they are a bunch who know their job very well.
The Australian skipper couldn't be any happier on Saturday evening. It has been a dream run for his team. The Champion's trophy, Ashes and now the World cup... what more can a skipper expect from his team ?
The sense of satisfaction was written all over his face as he stood with his team - lifting the World Cup for the second time as a skipper. Every player deserved a big hug and many of them walked around the ground with their arms around their skipper. He was their motivation, the source of their pride.
The group picture with the World Cup trophy was a big outlet of all their pent-up emotions. And a visibly emotional Ponting remarked: "I'm unbelievably proud of what we've achieved. Just to be involved with this group of players right through this World Cup is very special for me."
He just couldn't stop talking about his players. "All the guys did wonderfully well throughout the eight weeks. Everything came together for us really well in the final."
But one thing that he did admit was that he was himself shocked with his team's stupendous performance. "We've played some unbelievable cricket through this Cup. The fact that we did not even have a close game reveals the abilities of our players. It also reflects on how we played the matches."
Third highest
Ponting finished as the third highest scorer of the tournament with 539 runs after Matthew Hayden (659) and Mahela Jayawardene (548). The skipper must have answered this question a million times, but it sounded relevant once again after the win. What was the secret of the team's consistent performance? "The beauty of our team is that we are never satisfied with what we've done. All our players keep challenging themselves and the results have just kept getting better and better by the day." Don't look for any modesty in that reply. Commenting on the frustration of the final being curtailed by rain, he said: "Of all the games, it had to be the final that rain had to interrupt. In fact, only a few other matches were shortened due to rain in this tournament."
But he quickly came back to the positives from the tournament. The Gilchrist innings soon came up for discussion: "It was an unbelievable innings. To go out in a World Cup final and play 149 off 104 balls is something special. He hardly missed the middle of the bat for most of the day... it is undoubtedly an unbelievable innings," he was all praise for his wicket keeper.
'Best innings'
So much so that he went on to proclaim: "It is one of the best innings you will ever see and it was one of the best innings I have ever seen."
But Ponting was candid enough to admit that he had not expected Gilchrist to perform so well, given the fact that he was going through a poor form. "Hayden, in many ways, has been the batsman of the tournament and Gilchrist at the other end looked pretty shaky and scratching. If there is one factor that differentiated both the finalists, it surely is Gilly's innings," said Ponting.
"To take the game away from the opposition as Gilly did was pretty special stuff and to happen in the final says a lot about the bloke. This final has ended up as being one of the greatest days of my life. I doubt if I'll never forget this day," the skipper added.
WHO GETS WHAT
- Winners: $US2,240,000
- Runners-up: $1,000,000
- Semi-final losers: $450,000 each
- 5th place: $200,000
- 6th place: $150,000
- 7th place: $100,000
- 8th place: $50,000
- Winners group matches: $10,000 x 24
- Losers group matches: $5,000 x 24.
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