As a player, Ponting is the only cricketer in history to be involved in 100 Test victories. Ponting also holds the record to have been involved in the most ODI victories as a player, with 262 wins.
Ponting is Australia's leading run-scorer in Test and ODI cricket. He is one of only four players (along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis) in history to have scored 13,000 Test runs.
First played international cricket for Australia in 1995.
Wife, Rianna gave birth to the couples' first child, daughter Emmy Charlotte, on July 26, 2008 in Sydney.
Ponting led Australia to victory at the 2003 and 2007 Cricket World Cups and was also a member of the 1999 World Cup winning team under Steve Waugh.
I've told the guys to keep their heads up. I really believe we played a great game here.
It was a long, hard, tough day. We managed to just sneak through, it was an unbelievable Test match.
It's always good to win a Test match and if you win it comfortably, it can leave a few psychological marks on opposition sides.
It's a song that we sing after we win a Test match. We sing it after every one-day series win. It's been passed down through the generations. It's the culture of the Australian team.
I had big shoes to fill, but the way we have been playing has made the transition easy.