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Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting was a great player of the bouncer and loved bringing out the pull or hook shot when a short ball was directed at him. However, even the best can sometimes be unsettled. For Punter, as he is fondly called, one of his most awkward moments came off the field, not on it.
During a charity event in Bengaluru (then Bangalore) in September 2007, the Aussie legend was caught unawares as an Indian fan awkwardly kissed him on stage. As per a report in The Telegraph Online, a fan named Jayarama Reddy planted a kiss on the then-Australian captain's right cheek. Ponting asked him to stop, but Reddy insisted on kissing the cricketer's other cheek.
The bizarre incident took place at a charity event where the Aussie batting great's memorabilia, like bats and photographs, were up for auction. The report claimed that Reddy was willing to pay ₹10,000 to be photographed with Ponting and that the promoters agreed to the same. What transpired next left the former Australian cricketer absolutely stunned.
Later, speaking to the media, Reddy defended his action and made a rather bizarre comment. He stated (as per The Telegraph Online):
"He is a great captain. Our Indian culture is to kiss him. In foreign, you know, they hug and kiss, but he refuses to hug Indians. I told him, you hug me, otherwise get lost."
Apart from making news for his kiss, Reddy was also the highest bidder for Ponting’s bat at ₹90,000. The charity event was held as part of the Run Ricky Run campaign, in which every run scored by Ponting during the ODI series that was being held back then helped pay for an underprivileged child’s school fees.
How did Ponting perform in international cricket in India?
India was perhaps the only country where Ponting struggled in Test cricket. The former Australia captain played 14 Test matches in India, scoring 662 runs at an average of 26.48, with one hundred and five half-centuries.
The 49-year-old had a horror time with the willow during the epic 2001 series, managing only 17 runs in five innings, which included three ducks. Ponting notched up his only Test ton in India when he scored 123 in the Bengaluru Test in October 2008. He also impressed in his last Test match in India, which was also in Bengaluru in October 2010, scoring 77 and 72.
The former Australian captain fared much better in India in the ODI format. In 46 matches, he notched up 1,736 runs at an average of 39.45, with the aid of five hundreds and nine half-centuries. He played one T20I in India, at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in October 2007, hammering 76 off 53 in a losing cause.
