‘Medieval Knight’ Ponting grunts his way to full fitness ahead of India tour

SYDNEY - Australian cricket team captain Ricky Ponting looks like a medieval knight developing his explosive power to smash the cricket ball to all parts of the ground these days.

Ponting has been attending a national team training camp at Cronulla this week, and is grunting his way to full fitness ahead of the Australian tour of India. The team leaves today for India to play a two-Test series followed by a one-day series.

“Good work, that’s perfect,” yells former national team conditioner Jock Campbell, who is overseeing Ponting’s program for Cricket Australia.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, during the two-and-half hours of torture, Ponting repeats that exercise over a series of three sets.

He also has to spring from a crouch onto a metre-high stool, lift weights and fine-tune his running between wickets by turning low and catapulting himself back down the pitch.

Then there’s the work he does on the exercise bike and treadmill, and the ballet-type moves to improve his agility or strengthen his core.

In the past few months, Ponting has spent six days a week training hard to send a clear, but quiet, statement of how important the captaincy - and his place in the Australian team - is to him.

Until his India-bound players see his chiselled physique at the airport today, none would realize the hell their leader has endured to start this summer in tip-top condition.

“I just want to be a successful part of a successful unit; that’s all I’ve ever wanted to be in the team,” the lean-looking Ponting told The Sun-Herald.

“I guess over a long period of time I’ve managed to do that. Last year, was probably my most inconsistent season, so that’s an extra incentive to do the hard work, knowing I need to have a better year,” he added.

“And there are no greater challenges. India is a place where I’ve always struggled. I made my first Test hundred there on the last tour and started feeling better about my game in those conditions. It’s about being the best leader I can be,” Ponting said.

Campbell said Ponting’s regimen was tribute to a warrior who didn’t want to merely be on the same level as the game’s young lions but to be better than them.

“Last year Ricky probably realised he’s slowing down and he needed to do some extra stuff,” Campbell said.

“We’re stripping the weight from him and I think Ricky will be faster than he was as a young bloke; his being lean and fast means [as a batsman] his reaction time is going to be great. Nothing will hold him back,” Campbell said. (ANI)