17 years ago, India suffered a humungous loss by 125 runs in the ICC World Cup final against Australia in Johannesburg. However, on Monday, Ricky Ponting, the former Australian captain, took to Twitter to share the image of the bat which he used in that very game against India.
Posting the picture of the match, In the tweet, Ponting says, “Given we’ve all got a bit of time on our hands as we stay at home, though I’d go through what I’ve kept from my career and share some of it with everyone on a regular basis- this is the bat I used in the 2003 World Cup Final”. In response to his tweet, Indian fans came out all guns blazing at Ponting and accused him of having a spring in his bat.
Given we've all got a bit of time on our hands as we stay at home, thought I'd go through what I've kept from my career and share some of it with everyone on a regular basis – this is the bat I used in the 2003 World Cup final. pic.twitter.com/meoBP6NJvg
— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) March 23, 2020
The question originates from an observation that Ricky Ponting had a spring in his bat, allowing him to hit the cricket ball a long way. One fan took to Twitter and wrote, “Cut it open we Indians think it has springs in it”. Another user in his tweet said, “Every Indian from the ’90s will be searching for the spring in the bat”.
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Ricky played match-winning innings of 140* off 121 balls in the 2003 World Cup Final. His innings was studded with 8 sixes and 4 boundaries which helped Australia reach 359 in 50 overs. Replying to Ricky Ponting’s tweet, ICC also shared a clip from 2003 final which Australia won by 126 runs against India.
#OnThisDay in 2003,
the blade in action 💥 pic.twitter.com/wRgLIl3lAi
— ICC (@ICC) March 23, 2020
During the tournament, Ponting was the third-highest run-scorer with 415 runs. Sachin Tendulkar was the highest run-scorer with 673 runs during the World Cup. Sourav Ganguly, who led the Indian team to their first-ever World Cup final since 1983 was the second-highest run-getter in the tournament with 465 runs.
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Cricket has come to a halt across the globe much like other sports because of the coronavirus threat around the world. All major sporting events from the French Open to the Euro Cup have been postponed as a precautionary measure.
Indians fans were given a trip down memory lane and had some interesting replies to Ponting’s bat.
So, this is what ruined the dreams of 1 bn people back then
— Prithvi (@Prithvi10_) March 23, 2020
Every Indian from 90's will be searching for the spring in the bat😂😂
— Ashirwad (@ashirwxd) March 23, 2020
That's edited one, here's the real image pic.twitter.com/8eVEa04Z0z
— Rishabh Srivastava (@AskRishabh) March 23, 2020
