Rivalry Week: Ponting v Harbhajan

The rivalry

The rivalry between Ricky Ponting and Harbhajan Singh was forged during a memorable 2001 series on the subcontinent and dropped to the depths of the 2008 Sydney Test, when both men were at the centre of a controversial and ill-tempered series that drove a wedge between the two nations. But the pair would finish not as enemies but as allies during two title-winning campaigns in the Indian Premier League, one as teammates and one when Ponting was coach and Harbhajan was among his most trusted on-field leaders. No bowler dismissed Ponting more in international cricket than the Indian spinner, but the Australian certainly landed a blow or two of his own during their 48 games against each other.

The numbers

Matches played: 48 (14 Tests, 33 ODIs, 1 T20I)
Times Harbhajan dismissed Ponting: 13
Runs scored by Ponting: 2152 (six hundreds, 13 fifties)

When Harbhajan beat Ponting

Harbhajan Singh's 2001 series against Australia stands as one of the greatest individual performances in the modern era and no player was more under the off-spinner's spell than Ponting. In an interview with cricket.com.au last year, Ponting reflected on the pre-series tour match in Nagpur when the relatively unknown Harbhajan was one of a handful of Indian spinners to go the distance as the Australian batsmen, including Ponting, found form and set their sights on a rare series win in the subcontinent. "We've got nothing to worry about", Ponting remembers telling his captain Steve Waugh about Harbhajan, a then 20-year-old tweaker who had been hyped up as a player to watch when the Tests began in Mumbai two weeks later. But Ponting's confidence would prove to be misplaced as he managed just 17 runs for the series, with India's new spin star dismissing him five times out of five on his way to 32 wickets in a memorable series.

When Ponting beat Harbhajan

Ponting's first match against India and Harbhajan after that famous 2001 tour came on the grandest stage of all, the 2003 World Cup final in Johannesburg, and the Australian skipper banished his demons in the best possible way. Harbhajan tied down the Australians early and had impressive figures of 2-35 from seven overs when he was removed from the attack midway through the innings, but Ponting used the return of his nemesis to launch an extraordinary attack that guided his side to the title. Having been a sedate 49 from 72 balls when Harbhajan returned to bowl the 39th over, Ponting blasted the spinner's fourth and fifth deliveries into the crowd beyond the mid-wicket boundary, shots that proved to be the fire-starter for a late assault that yielded 91 runs from just 49 deliveries in the last 11 overs. Harbhajan didn't return to the attack after that 39th over as Ponting finished unbeaten on 140 and Australia won their third World Cup crown.

What they said

"There were certainly moments, like that 2001 series, where he had the better of me for sure. But there were other times (when I had the better of him). I made back-to-back double hundreds here (in Australia), I got a good piece of him in that World Cup final. We just had great battles right through our careers. As much as there was always great animosity on the field, as soon as the game was over, we always shook hands and got on with it. We probably both couldn't wait until the next contest and the next battle that we had." - Ponting on his rivalry with Harbhajan.