The rebirth of Ricky Ponting

If there were some who still had doubts about a 37-year-old Ricky Ponting commanding a place in Australia's Test XI after his 134 in Sydney in the New Year's Test, his rock-solid 221 in Adelaide should clear things up for them. He began the second day already past a hundred and went on to bat India out of the match with his captain, Michael Clarke.

Ponting and Clarke went on to add 386 runs for the fourth wicket, the highest Test partnership for any wicket at the Adelaide Oval, and at one point Ponting looked set to surpass his previous Test best of 257. But it was not to be, as, ironically, he was undone by his trademark pull. After effectively playing the shot several times in his 516-minute innings, he eventually picked out the fielder at deep midwicket, Sachin Tendulkar, who took a well-judged catch jumping to his left to end Ponting's innings on 221.

Apart from being the best in Adelaide - which, judging by the number of big hundreds he has scored here, is one of Ponting's favourite venues - the 386-run stand was the fourth-highest of all time for Australia in Test cricket. The partnership also demonstrated Ponting's value to Clarke - they seemingly complement each other perfectly, playing in contrasting styles that split the field. That the two seem to gel augurs well for Australian cricket. It certainly served them well today, as Australia ended the day having knocked over two India wickets cheaply while still being ahead by 543.