Talking point: Ponting, you have come a full circle!

The resemblance between the two exits have been somewhat uncanny, to say the least. It was exactly a decade back — to this month — that the Australian selectors told Steve Waugh, one of their best captains ever, that he did not figure in their one-day scheme of things anymore.

If there was still an element of shock and surprise about Waugh's ouster, there was no such scope in Ricky Ponting's case — who should have seen it coming. It was, after all, like coming a full circle for the ‘Punter', the man who took over the mantle from the senior of Waugh brothers and led the baggy greens to back-to-back triumphs in the next two World Cups.

It's very much the Australian way of doing things, one can argue. What's more, barely a month after saying ‘thank you for your services' to Super Steve, they did the same thing to Mark Waugh — who in my opinion remains one of the most stylish Australian batsman of this generation.

It's up to each individual whether to like their style of functioning, but it's this sheer pragmatism which has seen Australian cricket coming out of each phase of transition in their cricket so successfully.

Surely enough, the powers-that-be in Australian cricket still value his services in the longer version of the game for some more time — and Ponting certainly vindicated it with two workmanlike centuries in the recent Test series against India.

However, the exit door for the man with 13,000-plus one-day runs should not be seen in isolation but rather an attempt to build the foundation for the next 50-overs World Cup in three years' time.

To expect such nonchalance from the cricket boards in the sub-continent, and India in particular, may not be totally realistic as it's almost a cultural thing there to be ‘respectful' to seniors and big names. However, following the nightmarish overseas tours of England and now Australia, it's imperative that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) takes a holistic view of their problems at hand.

At the risk of sounding blasphemous, one must say that Sachin Tendulkar should have categorically bid adieu to the shorter form of the game on that magical night of April 2 last year when he finally laid his hands on the World Cup.

It's not imperative that the Indian board takes a leaf out of Cricket Australia's book, but sometimes there can be certain positives of adapting the "best practice" in each field.

Is the BCCI listening?