Ponting, successful captain but a poor leader

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting got into the 'Angry Youngman' mode on Monday after his run out in the World Cup match against Zimbabwe and allegedly smashed the LCD in his dressing room at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Ponting, who might have lost three Ashes series under his captaincy, still remains one of Australia's best captains. Under his leadership, Australia have played 72 Tests and won 48. Similarly, the Kangaroos have won 161 ODIs out of 222.

But, the two-time World Cup winning captain has off late been under fire for his leadership abilities. Has he lost that spark or it's the team that is just not strong or is it, as his many critics say, that he never had it in him and he took over a team after Steve Waugh that knew its job just too well?

Whatever may be the reason, but it is not for the first time that the Tasmanian has got embroiled in a row. Here are some other incidents that got his name in the bad books.

# It was during Australia's tour of India in 1998 when a drunk Ricky Ponting was kicked out of a Kolkata nightclub for his misdemeanour.

# After winning the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006, the BCCI president Sharad Pawar handed the trophy to the Australian skipper. Soon after, Ponting and his teammates pushed Pawar so that they could have a team photograph. This incident did not go down too well with the Indians.

# He did not let go a passing comment made by cricketer-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar, who said that the Australians were not popular winners, and said things which were not in good taste.

"We all know the way he played his cricket, don't we? If he is talking about us, what about the way India have played their cricket over the last few years? I know who I would rather be going to watch. Have a look at how many Test matches they have won. He [Gavaskar] has been a big part of that, he has been a selector and he has been on the coaching committee. They might want to start to look at the way they play their own cricket rather than looking at us. For him to go on about behaviour, not too many captains have dragged their teams off the field, either. I don't mind if 'Mr Perfect' comes out and goes on about our team, I know we are all not perfect. We are not going to keep everyone happy 100% of the time. But for some of these guys that have done it all themselves, it's pretty high and mighty for them to say that," Ponting said in reply.

Not cool Punter!

# In December 2010, Ponting clashed heatedly with the match umpires Aleem Dar and Tony Hill over an unsuccessful video review against England's on-fire Kevin Pietersen. Australian bowlers failed to contain KP and that made Ponting desperate, so much so that he crossed the line and forgot the phrase that 'Cricket is a gentleman's game'.

This immensely talented batsman can easily be called one of the best contemporary batsmen, but he needs to understand that he has to be much more than just a winning captain. 'Great Leader' sounds better, doesn't it!?