Ponting hails 'almost faultless' captaincy of Cummins
With the triumph over hosts India in the ICC World Cup final on Sunday, Pat Cummins joined the illustrious list of Australia captains who have led their team to the pinnacle of ODI cricket.
Four other Aussie captains have lifted the coveted trophy before him – Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke.
Ponting, the only two-time World Cup winning captain in that list, heaped praises on Cummins' leadership in the final in Ahmedabad, calling it 'almost faultless'.
"I think that's been almost faultless, to be honest," Ponting told Sky Sports after the match.
He specifically lauded Cummins' courage to bowl first after winning the toss, a bold choice that proved to be the right one.
"I mean, any captain deciding to bowl first at the toss, that's a gutsy, courageous move. Australia felt that if they could bowl well on that dry wicket early on and restrict India, batting was going to get easier in the second innings – but we all know if you get that call wrong and you lose the game, that's a huge decision to make for a relatively young captain," said Ponting.
"I thought his leadership actually has got better and better right through the tournament. His bowling has got better, and the way he used his bowlers today and some of his field placements to (Virat) Kohli and KL Rahul, outstanding, so once again, an Australian team just finds a way to get it done in the final," he added.
Despite retaining the Ashes earlier this year and winning the ICC Test Championship, many Aussie cricket fans were sceptical of Cummins' credentials as a captain in the 50-over format leading up to the World Cup.
Ponting feels that the criticisms Cummins faced as a leader were mostly baseless and the triumph over India showed why the right-arm pacer is the ideal man to lead the Aussies.
"I don't know where the negativity's come from because there's been no real basis for it. You look at their overall Test record since he's been captain is outstanding. And now he's a World Cup-winning captain, a World Test Championship-winning captain and a captain who retained the Ashes, so that negativity needs to be put aside now."