Cricket World Cup 2023: Ricky Ponting lauds Pat Cummins' 'gutsy move' and 'faultless captaincy' in final

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting commended Pat Cummins for "faultless captaincy" after the Australian team lifted their record-extending 6th title in India.

Ponting who helped his side win the 2003 World Cup that too against India also lauded the skipper's "gutsy move" of opting to bowl first which surprised many including Indian captain Rohit Sharma.

The 2003 & 2007 World Cup winning captain highlighted, “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 gonna 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"

Backing his leadership that has been under the scanner for quite some time, Ponting said, "I think his captaincy has been almost faultless, to be honest. I thought his leadership actually has got better and better right through the tournament"

Addressing criticisms of Cummins' leadership, Ponting also emphasized the captain's outstanding Test record and recent achievements, including winning the World Cup, World Test Championship, and retaining the Ashes.