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It has been said that the last 2-3 years he has been out of form. But I don't agree with that, imo its just a phase in his career where things don't go right for him. There are players like Hussey who when out of form look all at sea and lose most of their strokes, but not Ponting. I have seen him in "good touch" so many times in the last 2 years that it simply cannot be bad form. He has a habit though of finding the fielders when he does get starts, which he did not do before. He still and always has gotten out for cheap scores, it's just his conversion rate that has hit a road-block in the last 2-3 years.

There are talks for example that he hits his pull strokes in the air and gets hit or mistimes pulls/hooks. Well the thing is he has always done that. You can find examples in the videos that robelinda posted that he has always hit the pull/hook shot in the air in some point in his innings, and many commentators have always said "He gives you a chance" when playing that shot. Those chances are coming much more frequently now though.

Because of his character and that seeming he rarely loses his shots makes me think that Ponting could still play for 5-10 more years and still be Australia's best batsmen. But the chances are he will quit for some other reason, but certainly he could bat till in his mid 40s if he wanted to.