Ricky Ponting

1) Ricky Ponting is the eldest of three siblings. His younger brother Drew Ponting bowled to him in the backyard, with Ricky batting for hours. When Drew would get his chance, Ricky would dismiss him soon enough to hold the bat again and resume.
2) Ponting came from a middle-class family. His father Graeme endeavoured to be a golfer as a youngster. He also used to turn up for cricket and Aussie Rules Football games. Ponting’s mother Lorraine played for Tasmania in vigoro, a game that is said to be a mix of cricket and tennis. She was also good enough to play netball and badminton at a decent level.
3) 168 - Test match caps. A record for an Australian he holds jointly with Steve Waugh.
4) Most laudable was Ponting's belief in Andrew Symonds, and insistence that he be included in the 2003 World Cup squad. Up to that point, Symonds had demonstrated only sporadic bursts of his undoubted talent at the top level, but Ponting persisted with him
5) 13,378 - Test match runs to make him the second-most prolific batsman of all time behind Sachin Tendulkar.
6) Ponting’s first earning through cricket did not come due to the magic of his willow. But, as a young boy, he was a part of the scoreboard crew at some Sheffield Shield games. For that exercise per day, he used to be rewarded with A$ 20.
7) Ponting played most of his age group and initial cricket for the Mowbray Cricket Club in Launceston, Tasmania. In one of the games, Ponting and his father Graeme batted together. However, to his disappointment, Ponting senior was dismissed early while playing an aggressive stroke.
8) As a young boy, Ponting had to make tough choices to pursue his cricketing endeavours. At the age of 15, he gave up football after suffering an injury to his elbow. He also dropped out of school after finishing Class 10. “It was a big move I suppose, but it was pretty clear to everyone by then that cricket was the only thing I cared about,” Ponting wrote in his book At Close of Play.
9) Ricky Ponting Favorite drink is Milo or Gatorade
10) As Ponting gave up school, he needed to get a job. His mentor, Young arranged an appointment for him as a member of the ground staff at a school called Scotch Oakburn College. Ponting recalled, “That job confirmed for me that a life in sport was what I really wanted.”
11) Ricky Ponting Favorite food is Japanese
12) In 1992, when Ponting was a part of the Australian Cricket Academy, he first saw Sachin Tendulkar. Having heard a lot about him, Ponting asked the authorities to allow him to stay after practice to watch the Indian youngster. “I wanted to see Sachin Tendulkar who everyone was talking about, and I took up a position behind the nets while he had a bat. It’s fair to say I was going to watch him bat for a long time to come, but that day I was studying his technique, trying to see what it was about him,” Ponting wrote in his book. In the lead up to the 1992 World Cup, India played a practice game against the Australian Cricket Academy. Tendulkar scored 37 in that match and was caught by Ponting. The Aussie in turn scored 23.
13) Ricky Ponting Worst habit Biting fingernails
14) 41 - Test centuries to leave him third in the all-time list.
15) 375 - One-day internationals to make him the most-capped Australian and fifth-most overall.
16) Ponting first bonded with Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath on a tour to South Africa in 1992, where they were representing the Australian Cricket Academy. Ponting and Gilchrist sat next to each other on the flight to South Africa. Ponting recalled, “Getting on the plane, I hardly knew Gilly [Adam Gilchrist] but by the time we landed in Jo’burg we were best mates.”
17) During his time at the Academy in Adelaide, Ponting met Shane Warne, who was already a Test cricketer by then. In fact, Ponting volunteered to bat against Warne whenever he wanted to bowl and work on his technique with Terry Jenner. Ponting’s liking for dog races and his penchant for betting on them prompted Warne to christen him as ‘Punter.’ It was a nickname that stuck with Ponting. Warne had tried to take Ponting to nightclubs, but he would manage to get away by making all sorts of excuses.
18) 257 - His highest Test score against India at Melbourne in 2003.
19) 48 - His world record number of Test wins as captain.
20) 51.85 - Test average.
21) 98* Not Out Highest Twenty20 score in his first ever international match in the shortest format against New Zealand.
22) Three - World Cup titles.Two - World Cup wins as captain.