Ricky Ponting 'excited' to commentate alongside Lara, fans bat for Sachin's inclusion

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting on Wednesday said that he is 'excited' to share the commentary box with his former West Indies counterpart Brian Lara for the very first time when the two bring in 2021 on the sidelines of the ongoing edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). 

'For the first time': Ricky Ponting

Taking to the micro-blogging site, the three-time World Cup winner had posted an image of him and 'The Prince of Trinidad' supposedly from a studio and captioned the same as 'Happy New Year everyone. Excited to bring 2021 in by commentating alongside @BrianLara for the first time. #BBL10'

As soon as the passionate cricket fans learned that both these legendary cricketers will be under a single frame, they just could not hold back their emotions and it seemed as if they just cannot wait to see the champion players in the commentary box. At the same time, there was one fan who also defined both the elegant batsmen's trademark cricketing shots during their heydays i.e. the backfoot punch and the short of length pull shot. Here are a few of the reactions.

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 While the fans are excited to watch Ponting and Lara make their commentary skills talk, there were also a few of them who reckoned that Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar's presence would have completed the list of three of the greatest batsmen of the generation.

Ricky Ponting's cricketing career

Ponting has represented Australia in 168 Tests and 375 One Day Internationals between 1995 to 2012. Apart from being an integral part of Australia's three consecutive World Cup triumphs between 1999 to 2011, he was also a part of the Mark Taylor-led side that had finished as the runners-up in the 1996 edition. 'Punter' also led Australia to two straight ICC Champions Trophy triumphs in 2006 and 2009 respectively. 

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Brian Lara's cricketing career

Brian Charles Lara was one of the best and the finest cricketers to play and lead the West Indies team. Under his captaincy, WI's title drought of 25 years came to an end when they won their first and only ICC Champions Trophy in 2004. Lara finished his cricketing career as one of the best in the business with some phenomenal records to his name.

Nicknamed 'The Prince of Trinidad', Lara represented West Indies for 17 years. He became the youngest captain for the team of Trinidad and Tobago at just the age of 20. He made his Test debut for the West Indies side the same year against Pakistan in Lahore, where he registered scores of 44 and 6. Right after the Test, he had to return to the domestic circuit and only became a regular once Richards retired. 

In his three captaincy stints, the team didn't really shine, but the greatest feat for him as a captain was when he led his side to win the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004. He hung his gloriously-worn boots after the '07 World Cup. Lara's score of 400 against England in 2004 remains the highest individual Test score to date.

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