Happy Birthday Ponting: Former Australian cricketer Ricky Thomas Ponting was born on 19 December 1974 in Launceston in the Tasmanian state of Australia.

Ponting made his debut in first-class cricket for Tasmania in a Sheffield Shield game in November 1992. He was just a month short of 18 years at that time.

An aggressive and no-holds-barred cricketer, he made his ODI debut against South Africa in February 1995. He played his maiden Test against Sri Lanka at Perth in December 1995.

Known as the second-best batsman from Down Under only after Don Bradman, Ponting featured thrice when his country lifted the ICC World Cup thrice. In two of them, Punter, as he is fondly known as, was the captain.

He has scored the second-highest number of Test centuries (41) and ranks only behind Sachin Tendulkar in the longest format. He was one of the most destructive ODI batsmen during his career spanning from 1995 to 2012.

Ponting is also the most successful-ever captain of the Australian team with 48 victories. With 13,378 runs, he is the most prolific batsmen of Down Under to date. To add a feather to his cap, he also took the most number of catches for an Australian at 196.

By leading Australia to victory in 220 international matches out of 324, Ponting is also the most successful captain in international cricket. His winning ratio stands at 67.91%.

Though he started as a middle-order batsman, he cemented his place at No.3 position in both Test and ODI formats. Considered an all-round batsman, he played all shots, with the cover drive and the pull being his most preferred shots. His only chinks in the armor were his vulnerability to high-class spin bowling and short balls in the latter part of his career, which he more often not mishit. By pulling and hooking effortlessly off his front-foot, Ponting bemused many bowlers of his era.

He represented Somerset and Surrey in English county cricket. In IPL, he represented KKR and Mumbai Indians. Ponting played for Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League.

He announced his retirement from Test and ODI cricket in November 2012 and February 2012, respectively.

Since 2017, Ponting has been the head coach of Delhi Daredevils, now known as Delhi Capitals.

His highest Test score was 257, which came against India while his highest ODI score was 164 against South Africa.

Cricket Australia inducted him into the Australian Hall of Fame in 2018.