Ricky Ponting, the most uncompromising player of his generation, grew into Australia's most successful run-maker and only sits below Bradman in the country's overall ratings. It takes an extremely critical eye to diminish his run-scoring achievements, which seem to collect new records in every series. Like spotting a celebrity, it's necessary to look twice when analysing Ponting, first as the archetypal modern batsman, then as the country's 42nd Test captain. There is no doubt about his greatness after taking guard, but his leadership has been under scrutiny for much of his reign. While his blade has sparkled, his stewardship is pock-marked by three Ashes defeats - two in England and one at home - and stumbles to South Africa and India.

Those results didn't stop him from becoming the most successful captain in Test history after passing Steve Waugh's 41 wins in the 2009-10 Boxing Day Test. In the same match he overtook Shane Warne's 92 victories as the most by an individual, and he led Australia to 34 consecutive undefeated World Cup games. He stepped down from the captaincy when that run ended, in the 2011 World Cup. For the first three years of his reign he was in charge of a superstar unit and did not have to decide much tactically, but once that group headed for retirement he had to change from a manager to moulder.

As a batsman the only debate is where to rank him in the high reaches of the game's greatest run-makers. Acclaimed by Academy coach Rod Marsh as the best teenage batsman he had ever seen, Ponting began with Tasmania at 17 and Australia at 20, and was given out unluckily for 96 on his Test debut. There were some teething problems, including a public admission of an alcohol problem, but the longer he went on the more he matured, building up records and runs.

He plays all the shots with a full flourish of the bat - the cover drive and the pull are particularly productive methods - and knows only to attack. His breathtaking, dead-eye fielding is a force in the game by itself. Only Sachin Tendulkar has more centuries in Tests and ODIs than Ponting, who is a natural in the game's traditional forms, but resistant to the perks of Twenty20, which he retired from in 2009. There have been setbacks against probing seam attacks, high-class finger-spin and, latterly, short balls, which he insists are meant to be pulled or hooked. These will be minor matters whenever he retires.

• November 1992
  Starting young
  • Ricky Ponting makes his first-class debut for Tasmania at the age of 17. He is the youngest player to represent Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield.
    
• February 15, 1995
  Disappointing ODI debut
  • Makes ODI debut at the age of 20 and scores 1 against South Africa in Wellington.
    
• December 10, 1995
  Missing out on a debut Test hundred
  • Makes Test debut against Sri Lanka at the WACA and is unlucky to be given out lbw on 96.
    
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• December 3, 1996
  On the outer
  • Is dropped after the second Test against West Indies in Sydney where he makes only 9 and 4. One match earlier he scored 88 against the same opposition in his first match at No. 3.
    
• July 24, 1997
  A maiden Test hundred
  • Returns to the Test team with a bang at Headingley, batting at No. 6 and scoring 127, his maiden century. With Matthew Elliott he lifts Australia from 4 for 50 to 9 declared for 501.
    
• January, 1999
  Playing the naughty boy
  • Goes nightclubbing after a one-day match against England and early the next morning is photographed with a black eye after being punched outside a Sydney bar. Receives a three-match ban and $5000 suspended fine, and admits to a drinking problem.
    
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• February-March 2001
  Spin quandary
  • Struggles against spin in India, scoring only 17 runs in five innings and falling to Harbhajan Singh each time.
    
• February 2002
  The man in charge
  • Succeeds Steve Waugh as Australia's ODI captain.
    
• February-March 2003
  The World Cup champs
  • Leads Australia's successful World Cup campaign in South Africa, scoring 140 not out in the final.
    
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• December 26-30, 2003
  Double-hundreds galore
  • Joins Bradman as the second player to score three double-centuries in a calendar year with 257 against India at the MCG. He reached 242 in the previous match and 206 against West Indies in April, helping him to 1503 runs at 100.2 for 2003. His performances would win him the 2004 Allan Border Medal.
    
• March 2004
  Captain in all forms
  • Takes over the Test captaincy as well after Steve Waugh retires. Leads Australia to a 3-0 victory in Sri Lanka, his first assignment.
    
• October-November 2004
  Untimely injury
  • A broken thumb keeps Ponting on the sidelines as Adam Gilchrist leads Australia to their first series win in India in 35 years. Ponting plays the final Test which Australia lose and take the series 2-1.
    
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• January 2005
  Another double
  • Scores 207 against Pakistan in Sydney to become only the third Australian, along with Don Bradman and Greg Chappell, to score four or more double-centuries in Tests.
    
• June 2005
  Beaten by Bangla
  • Suffers humiliating defeat in an ODI against Bangladesh in Cardiff. It's the start of a torrid summer in England.
    
• July-September 2005
  An Ashes setback
  • A heroic 156 saves the Old Trafford Test but, on September 12, Ponting becomes the first Australian captain since Allan Border in 1986-87 to taste defeat in an Ashes series.
    
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• January 2-6, 2006
  The perfect 100th Test
  • Ponting scores hundreds in each innings of his 100th Test, against South Africa at the SCG.
    
• March 24-28, 2006
  Joining Gavaskar
  • Scores two more hundreds in the Durban Test, it's the third time Ponting's scored hundreds in each innings of a Test. Sunil Gavaskar is the only other batsman to achieve this feat.
    
• November 2006
  Champion of Champions
  • Leads Australia to Champions Trophy glory in India, thereby winning the only competition that had eluded Australia so far.
    
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• January 2007
  Revenge
  • Regains the Ashes in emphatic style. Ponting is the Man of the Series - 576 runs at 82.28 - as Australia becomes the first team in 86 years to achieve an Ashes clean sweep.
    
• April 2007
  Another World Cup title
  • Leads Australia to a hat-trick of World Cup wins, his second as captain, with an undefeated run during the competition in the West Indies.
    
• January 2008
  Breaking a barren run
  • Ponting ends a 13-month century-less run with 140 against India in Adelaide, at the end of a controversial series.
    
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• May 2008
  Next only to Sachin
  • Scores 35th Test century, against West Indies in Jamaica, to pass Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara's tallies. Only Sachin Tendulkar is ahead of him.
    
• October 2008
  Ending the India jinx
  • After averaging 12.28 in 14 innings, Ponting finally scores a century in India - a 123 in Bangalore.
    
• July 2009
  Ahead of Allan
  • Passes Allan Border's tally of 11,174 during the Edgbaston Test to become Australia's highest run-scorer.
    
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• July-August 2009
  Another Ashes setback
  • Loses the Ashes for the second time, going down 2-1 in England.
    
• September 2009
  Champion of Champions … again
  • Arrives in South Africa after a disappointing tour of England and successfully defends the Champions Trophy.
    
• January 2010
  Prolific Punter
  • Scores fifth double-century, against Pakistan in Hobart, and narrowly misses scoring a double-century and a century in the same Test.
    
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• March-July 2010
  A lean patch begins
  • Disappointing tours of New Zealand and England follow, where Ponting manages just one half-century in seven innings. Australia win the New Zealand Test series, but slip-up against Pakistan as the series is drawn 1-1.
    
• October 2010
  Disappointment in India
  • A tour that is a personal high for Ponting, but a poor one for Australia as they are beaten 2-0 in the Test series. Ponting makes three fifties in four innings but all in vain.
    
• November 2010-January 2011
  Despair in Australia
  • Ponting presides over Australia's first Ashes series defeat at home since 1986-87. He makes just 103 runs in seven innings as Australia go down 3-1. Calls for his retirement intensify.
    
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• March 19, 2011
  Unbeaten World Cup run ends
  • Ponting's 34-match unbeaten streak in World Cups is brought to an end as Pakistan win by four wickets in Colombo.
    
• March 24, 2011
  A hero in defeat
  • India prevail in an exciting quarter-final in Ahmedabad, knocking out Australia but Ponting overcomes a poor run and criticism about captaincy to score a determined century.
    
• March 29, 2011
  Ponting resigns as captain
  • Amid increasing pressure, Ponting steps down as Australia's Test and ODI captain but makes himself available for selection with an intention to play on.
    
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• January 4, 2012
  A Test century at last
  • After going two years, and 33 innings, without a Test hundred, Ponting finally ends that drought with a knock of 134 against India in Sydney. It's his sixth Test hundred at the SCG.
    
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