Former skipper Ricky Ponting became the 25th Australia cricketer to be inducted into ICC’s Hall of Fame on Wednesday during the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne.
Ponting was formally inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame during the tea interval on day one of the third Test between Australia and India.
The 44-year-old was earlier been named in the Hall of Fame alongside former India batsman Rahul Dravid and England women’s Claire Taylor during the ICC Annual Conference at Dublin in July this year.
Ponting was presented with his commemorative plaque by his former Australia team-mate and pacer Glenn McGrath during the short ceremony at the MCG.
“It’s an incredible feeling, I think for it to happen here at the MCG is what makes the whole thing a little bit more special." - Ricky Ponting on his induction into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
— ICC (@ICC) December 26, 2018
FULL STORY👇https://t.co/7WEgWgdS1H pic.twitter.com/aWmwJDWk1V
One of the only two captains in cricket history to lead their respective teams to two separate World Cup crowns, Ponting expressed his delight in receiving the plaque from McGrath.
“I have lots of great memories with Glenn. I went to the cricket academy with Glenn in about 1990, so I have known Glenn for a long time. It’s a really cool thing that they do to have a fellow inductee actually hand over your cap and induct you in, so to have someone like Glenn do it, with whom I’m working with now and have played with for 10 or 12 years, makes the whole thing a little bit better,” the Aussie stated upon receiving the honour.
Ponting remains one the greatest batsmen ever produced by Australia with 13,378 runs to his name from 168 Tests and has 41 tons to his credit. He had an equally stellar record in the ODI format where he garnered 13,704 runs from 375 matches with the help of 30 centuries.
