Ricky Ponting to skip IPL season 2

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Detective RDS
Posts: 1716
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:26 pm

Ricky Ponting to skip IPL season 2

Post by Detective RDS »

Links:

1."Country comes first"-Ricky Ponting
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/st ... 36,00.html

2.Ponting decides to give IPL a miss
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/austral ... 91461.html

3.Ponting pulls out of IPL
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cric ... 26717.html

4.Ponting to skip IPL this year
http://www.cricpad.com/iplt20-news/pont ... this-year/

5.Ponting to skip IPL's 2nd season
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ponti ... on/425984/

It seems that Ricky Ponting is putting his country first.He wants to concentrate more on Asheas against England.Again,there was controversy when Cricket Australia(CA) gave him rest for the 3rd and 4th ODI against New Zealand.Former Australian captain Steve Waugh said that "Players are given rest to play more for their country.But what they do in the off season?They play in the IPL".

I think Ponting answered Steve Waugh well!Ponting is a player of Kolkatta Knight Riders in the IPL.He is looking forward to play in the IPL in 2010.

Detective RDS
Posts: 1716
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:26 pm

Re: Ricky Ponting to skip IPL season 2

Post by Detective RDS »

Main Source:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/st ... 36,00.html

Country comes first
Ricky Ponting | February 20, 2009
Article from: The Australian

I HAVE made the decision I will not play in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition this year.

My country comes first and there was no way I could give my all for Australia if I used the only two-week break we have to go and play in India.

I have been talking with my team, the Kolkata Knight Riders for a month or two now and in the end my only choice was to withdraw from the 2009 competition, but I will most certainly be back for 2010 when I hope to be able to make a much greater contribution.

The franchise has been fantastic about the whole thing and I want to thank them for their understanding.

When Lalit Modi first launched the IPL he assured the traditional cricket community that country would always take priority over the franchises and it is written into the rules of the organisation.

My case is a perfect example of that.

As everybody is aware, I could not really take a break through the Australian summer.

The season at home ended last Sunday for the international team and on Monday we were jetting off to South Africa for three Tests, five one-day matches and Twenty20 games.

Before we left it was announced that the one-day series against Pakistan starts immediately after this trip ends, then there is a two-week break and from then it is on to the Twenty20 World Cup, the Ashes, a one-day series in India, the Australian summer and on and on.

However, I have to say that I had been talking with my manager about not playing the IPL well before any issues came up about me having a break, or, as it turned out, not having a break, during the one-day series against New Zealand.

I could have played for two free weeks in the IPL and in many ways that is not satisfactory, not for the Knight Riders and not for Australian cricket either.

And then there was the issue of giving up the chance to be with my family for a fortnight. It is always hard to leave Rianna and I cherish every second I spend with my daughter Emmy.

Having said that, it will be painful not to be with the Knight Riders and I am going to be sneaking out in the night to catch as many of their matches as I can on the television.

Only being there for a couple of weeks of IPL last year was not that easy. But having said that, being around for the last two weeks of the competition would be even more difficult. I could get there and the finals might be decided before I've even unpacked my bag and it's pretty hard to pick up the pace of things in that short a time, on the field and in the dressing room.

All of us in the Australian dressing room have said that this has been our toughest summer. Obviously our priorities are to be in the best physical and mental shape we can be for the Australian side and it doesn't get any more important than the games we've got coming up.

We have something to prove to the South Africans and the world. After that it is the ICC Twenty20 championship and then we have the Ashes. And nobody needs to be told how much that matters.

In that sense it was not that tough a decision. But in saying that, everybody who has played in the IPL enjoyed the experience and everybody in cricket wants to be part of the tournament. It is the new frontier to some degree and an exciting frontier.

However, when you weigh that up against being at your best for the series ahead it was an easy choice.

Before we go a step further, I want to say that this is not an indication of any intention to ease myself out of Twenty20 cricket. I am really looking forward to the World Cup. It's one trophy we do not have on the shelf and have never had.

I have given no thought to not playing any form of the game or retiring from any form of the game. I love captaining my country and will not let go while I have a contribution to make. Don't worry about that.

Part of the reason I decided to withdraw from the IPL is that Twenty20 is such a physically demanding game and you have to be at your best to play the game and I want to be at my best for the World Cup.

I am in really good physical shape at the moment but have to admit that there is a bit of tiredness after the summer we've had. The jet lag doesn't help either.

There is some talk that players might not be able to play three forms of the game in the future and I guess the next 12 months will give us the best indication of that because the calendar has never been more crowded.

I haven't looked ahead to next year but it would be perfect if I could get over and play every game with the Knight Riders. The IPL is one of the most exciting competitions in world cricket and I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that trophy too, but until then it is the trophy cabinet at Cricket Australia that matters the most.

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Sir Mupariwa
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Re: Ricky Ponting to skip IPL season 2

Post by Sir Mupariwa »

Ricky wanna be''John McCain'' succumbed to pressure from previous captain liky Steve Waugh and he did the right thing at the expense of a few thousand quick dollars. Injury prone Flintoff is hoping to be fit for the IPL...UMM!
12.4 Odhiambo to Vermeulen, FOUR, that's an appalling long hop, Vermulen had plenty of time to get into position, drink a cup of tea, and pull the ball towards the long leg boundary- his first boundary today

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