Lara and Ponting: Overshadowed by Sachin's magnificence

Ponting is one of the most successful captains of all time, with 48 victories in 77 Tests between 2004 and 31 December 2010, while as a player he is also the only cricketer in history to be involved in 100 Test victories. Inspite of giving two World Cups to Australia, Ponting still faced criticism after they lost their first Ashes series after 1987. However, Aussies regained a 5-0 win when they faced England at home.

Former Aussie captain Allan Border praised him when he surpassed his record of maximum runs saying, “It takes three ingredients to make a great player – determination, courage and skill – and he’s got all three in abundance. He’s also developed into a great leader. Players really enjoy playing for him and that’s sometimes a difficult trait to bring out in people. You can tell by the way the team responds to him that his leadership skills are among the finest. Combine this with his batting skill and that’s a pretty intimidating package.”

But Ponting’s career was in doldrums when they lost the Ashes again in 2009.

Ponting nominated fellow 37-year-old Jacques Kallis as his favourite batsman. Kallis has scored 12,980 runs at 56.92 and taken 282 wickets at 32.57 in his 158 Tests.

“You have to put Kallis in that bracket as well, you put his wickets on top of what he has done with the bat,” Ponting said.

“The way I judge players is their ability to win games by themselves, and Lara could certainly do that and probably did it more than what Sachin did for India,” said Ponting.

But at the end of the day, Tendulkar, who still stands firm like a colossus, has got the others hid by the shroud of his laurels. While the master resumes play, the others plan their post retirement life.