Ricky Ponting said on Wednesday he would prefer to win matches for Australia than chase the record-breaking feats of Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar.
”Its not about personal achievement or how many runs you score.
It’s the number of games you can win for your team,” Ponting said ahead of a seven-match one-day series against India.
”I will do my best to win quite a few games for Australia in the next couple of weeks. I will keep plugging away, doing the best I can and hopefully keep playing well enough to win a number of games for Australia.
”That’s what it’s all about.”
Ponting, who turns 35 in December, is considered the nearest contender to surpass Tendulkar, who has the most runs and centuries in both Test and one-day cricket.
The Australian captain acknowledged the feats of the long-serving Indian star, saying Tendulkar, 36, had set a ”benchmark for international players in the world.
”He’s going into his 20th year in international cricket, which in itself is a remarkable feat within itself,” said Ponting.
”The records he has set in Test and one-day cricket would be hard for anybody to tame down the track.”
Tendulkar, has scored 12,773 Test runs with 42 centuries since his debut in November, 1989 against Pakistan. He also has 16 903 one-day runs with 44 hundreds.
Ponting, in contrast, has scored 11 345 Test runs with 38 centuries and 12 044 one-day runs with 28 hundreds.
Ponting and Tendulkar will face off when the first one-dayer opens in Vadodara on Sunday. — Sapa-AFP