Ricky Ponting, the 37- year-old former Australian captain and most prolific batsman retired from International cricket at the end of the third and final Test between Australia and South Africa which ended last Monday at Perth.

The Tasmania born Ricky Thomas Ponting made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Perth in December 1995, scoring an impressive 96. He also made his ODI debut in February 1995 against South Africa at Wellington.

Ponting ended his 17-year career appearing in 168 Test matches scoring 13,378 runs with 41 centuries at an average of 51.85 his highest 287. His 375 appearences in ODIs earned him 13,704 runs with 30 centuries his highest 164.

He captained Australia from 2004 to 2010 in 77 matches winning 48 the most by any captain in the history of the game. He participated in three ICC World Cup victories for Australia and was the skipper on two occasions.

During his illustrious career he was One-Day International Player of the Year in 2002. ICC Test Player of the Year in 2003, 2004 and 2006. He won the LG/ ICC Player of the Year ( Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy) in 2006 and 2007. Wisden Cricketer of the Year also in 2006 and was awarded the Allan Border Medal in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive, David Richardson said in a statement “Ponting contribution to the international game has been immense and quite rightly he will be regarded as one of the true legends of the sport. He was a team man but along the way collected many personal accolades. We wish him well in the next stage of his career.”

The top ten run scores to date with over 10,000 runs are Sachin Tendulkar 15,562, Picky Ponting 13,378, Rahul Dravid 13,288, Jacques Kallis 12,980, Brian Lara 11,953, Allan Border 11,174, Steve Waugh 10,927, Shivnarine Chanderpaul 10,696, Mahela Jayawardene 10,640 and Sunil Gavaskar 10,122.