Five players who stood at short leg or silly point even after becoming captain

#2 Ricky Ponting

Short-leg belonged to Ponting and Ponting alone

Of all the positions he fielded at, short-leg belonged to Ponting and Ponting alone. He was freakishly good while fielding at short-leg and while many would debate that there is always some element of fluke at such positions, Ponting’s success rate while fielding close-in to the batsmen was ridiculous.

That was one of the many reasons that he continued at that position even after taking over as captain. Ponting’s bravado at such positions was legendary and often left the opposition cursing their luck.

Take, for example, that one particular catch off the bowling of Katich at short-leg during Zimbabwe’s tour of Australia in 2003 which he describes in his book, At Close of Play, as ‘a crazy moment’. As Tatenda Tiabu smashed a half-tracker off Katich, the ball first hit Ponting on the arm then the chest as he held onto a screamer. Call it luck if you want but fielding at close-in positions is all about being brave enough to get hit and still hold onto those half-chances and Ponting was a pro at that.