Ricky Ponting is one of the undisputed legends of the game. As a player he has been victorious in 108 Tests, which is the a record by any player in Tests. Most cricket fans would say that any batsman who averages above 50 in Tests is great, but simple stats don’t do justice to a batsman of the calibre of Ricky. He was very versatile and could play an attacking innings taking the bowling by the scruff of the neck as well as playing defensively in the 4th innings to help his team save a Test. Most batsmen are not very comfortable playing the hook shot against genuine quick bowlers but Ricky was at ease hooking the fastest bowlers in the world and was considered one of the finest players of short pitched bowling. He took to Test cricket like a fish to water. He inherited a strong team from Steve Waugh and continued the good work done by his predecessor. He jointly holds the record for most Tests played by an Australian and announced his retirement in November 2012.

In December 2014, Ponting was appointed as the Head Coach of Mumbai Indians. There have been many great cricketers who have not necessarily excelled in coaching. However, Ponting is known to have a shrewd cricketing brain and was also a great captain of Australia. He won 48 Tests as skipper of Australia which is the 2nd most by any captain in Tests and has also won 165 ODIs as the captain of Australia which is also a world record.

Here’s a look at Ricky’s top contributions towards Mumbai Indians

1) The inspirational leader.

Ponting’s first major assignment as head coach was in IPL 2015. MI did not get off to a good start and lost their first 4 games. Inspirational leadership from Rohit Sharma and hard work behind the scenes from Ricky Ponting paid off as the players showed a lot of spunk and determination. Their 5th match of the tournament was against Royal Challengers Bangalore. They scored 209/7 in their 20 overs and beat RCB by 18 runs. This was the catalyst in their turn around. MI won 10 out of the next 12 matches to clinch their 2nd IPL title. In a game like Twenty20, this is a Herculean achievement as the vagaries of the format means that it is difficult to string together a lot of victories. After the first 4 games, the players, particularly the youngsters must have been disheartened but that’s where Ponting’s experience and never say die attitude helped and made them believe that they could still go on and win the IPL. In an interview he spoke about telling his players that he wanted them to win the IPL and not just qualifying for the Champions league. They eventually went on to win it beating CSK in the final.

2) Nurturing raw talent.

Today, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya are established cricketers for India. However, they were raw when they first burst on the scene and Ponting’s experience and backing was crucial in giving them the confidence they needed to flourish on the big stage. Bumrah has taken the most wickets ever by a bowler in a calendar year in T20Is (28 in 2016) and has an economy rate of just 3.63 in ODIs. Hardik Pandya had a dream ODI debut and has been rewarded with a call up to India’s Test squad. This showed Ponting’s eye for talent and he deserves credit for spotting them when they were young.

3) Backing players in crucial times.

During the 2016 IPL, Ponting played a key role in nurturing the talent of Jos Buttler who played a lot of influential knocks for MI. He also backed Krunal Pandya who was a revelation with his spin bowling and aggressive batting. His key performances against big teams like RCB, would have given him a lot of confidence. It was Ponting who saw the talent in Krunal and played a key role in giving an opportunity to shine on the big stage.

Very seldom in the history of cricket has a coach being afforded so many plaudits and Ponting deserves all the accolades. Ponting has now been replaced as head Coach of MI, but his invaluable hard work behind the scenes will not be forgotten and will his successor will do well to take inputs from him on how to carry forward his legacy.