There will always be a tinge of sadness when someone who has had a lot of success and who revelled in the role he was given at Mumbai Indians moves on in his life. Ricky Ponting gave all he had both as a player and as a coach and his selflessness, hard work and commitment both as a player and as a coach played a major role in the team winning the IPL in 2013 and 2015. Not many players would have stepped down as captain and voluntarily relinquished their position in the team but Ricky always realised that the team’s cause was more important than any personal ambition and milestone and it is precisely this attitude that led to him being so successful both as a player and coach. Mumbai Indians is extremely fortunate to have had Ricky serve us in many capacities.

He was kind enough to leave this message for us on Facebook :-

“THANK YOU MUMBAI

I want to say thank you to everyone involved at the Mumbai Indians for a fantastic four years.

It has been a memorable journey winning titles as a player in 2013 and then as coach in 2015.

After starting 2015 with 6 losses in the first 7 games but turning it all around to go and win the IPL, is definitely one of my career highlights.

Thanks to the Ambani family for giving me this opportunity and thanks to all the management and staff for supporting me.

Thanks to all the players that I played with or coached across the four years. I really enjoyed sharing a change room with you.

And to the Mumbai Indians fan base all around the world. You are just fantastic.

I wish Mahela and the team all the very best for the 2017 season.

I’m now looking forward to my next challenge.”

All we can say is: Thank you, Ricky.