Published: Mar 31, 2013, 08:22 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 31, 2013, 08:22 PM (IST)
Ricky Ponting says it will be fun hearing the deafening roar from the crowd on Sachin Tendulkar’s (above) arrival at the crease © AFP
Mumbai: Mar 31, 2013
Mumbai Indians captain Ricky Ponting is eagerly looking forward to hear the din at the Wankhede Stadium when Sachin Tendulkar comes out to bat, not as a member of an opposing team but as the iconic Indian cricketer’s teammate.
“The highlight of coming to Mumbai is that we are always playing against Sachin and the roar the crowd [makes] when Sachin is about to face the first ball is quite deafening and always was. I was always in the opposition team and now I am on his team so it will be a bit more fun for me this time I think.”
The Australian felt that T20 cricket has led to a lot of improvisations by batsmen and bowlers.
“The whole game has evolved dramatically. There is no doubt the range of skills batsmen, bowlers and fielders are now showing is vastly different from what it was before T20 cricket started. The amount of slow ball variations we are seeing, the number of unorthodox spin bowlers, guys with different action who bowl different deliveries, that have had great impact on T20 tournaments around the world.
“Some of the reverse sweep shots that you see and all those things and just the power hitting is the big thing that you see in Twenty 20 cricket now. Well over 300 sixes are hit in every IPL tournament, so there is lot of entertainment and lot of excitement for the fans.
“With the T20 game, you have to have a lot of flexibility around your squad and that is one thing we have spoken about.
I would expect every batsmen that is picked in our first 11 to be able to bat at any spot because that is what we are going to need at different times through the tournament,” he added.
Ponting said towards the end of his long international career he had to give up T20 as he wanted to concentrate on the other two forms of the game.
“For me as an international cricketer, Test cricket and one-day cricket was what it was all about. I had to make some tough decision towards the end of my international career to not play T20 cricket internationally because I couldn’t keep playing all three forms of the game as well as I wanted to.
“I gave up T20 cricket in the short term, but I always knew that at the end of my international career there would be chance that I would be able to come back and play again. I really enjoyed the Big Bash this year. I have really got into the rhythm of the Twenty20 cricket, which I probably hadn’t ever done before.”
