Before the series began, a lot of people might have foreseen Ponting’s series, with the bat, ending in exactly this manner. The Indians may have planned for this too. Bowl short at him, put a couple of men on the fence, and watch. He can’t resist the pull. And his eye isn’t what it used to be, so he won’t keep it down. If he gets out like this often enough, he’ll probably retire at the end of the series, and get a massive ovation. Neatly enough, Sachin Tendulkar had caught Steve Waugh at deep midwicket in his final Test innings eight years ago. Then too, it was off India’s best bowler, Anil Kumble.

With India 61/2 after Australia had declared their first innings at 604/7, Ponting may not have to bat again in this Test. But his career is far from over. And the uppish pull was his first of the series. It came when his score was 221, and his series aggregate 484 in five innings. The Indians had tried the bouncer ploy, with the leg-side boundary heavily patrolled, in every innings.

It’s a wonder why they’ve persisted so long with this plan. It’s allowed Ponting, to an extent, to find his form. But most of the credit for that goes to the work he put into his technique, over the leanest spell of his career, to curb a tendency to fall over and succumb to LBWs.

After Day One, an Australian journalist asked Ponting if this was a farewell innings, looking at the exultant uppercut he performed with his bat after getting to his hundred. He put an end to any such speculation. “I won’t be retiring at the end of this Test,” he said. “It was a celebration. I was pretty excited. I haven’t scored a lot of those lately.”

It was his second in three Tests. With the form he’s gotten himself into, Ponting seems set to enjoy the final leg of his Test career on his own terms — passing on his experience to the young batsmen surrounding him, and seeing Australia regain their place at the top of world cricket. “I want to be around to see this team be ranked No.1,” he said.

Chief selector John Inverarity, meanwhile, has said that he can see Ponting and Mike Hussey playing a part in the 2013 Ashes. “There are not three or four players who are putting immense pressure on Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey. We’re after the best we can get and all possibilities are open. Both might go to the Ashes, it could be neither goes, it could be one or the other,” he said. “We haven’t taken any options off the table and we look forward to younger batsmen pressing their claims with outstanding performances.”

This hasn’t happened so far. Looking at the names above Ponting in this batting order, Ed Cowan has only just come into the side, David Warner might always retain an element of hit-and-miss and Shaun Marsh hangs over a precipice after a horrendous series. Among those outside the team, Phil Hughes is still to convince that he has a technique that will survive Test cricket, while Usman Khawaja needs to show he can convert his starts and make big innings. Most of the rest of the younger batsmen are untested at the highest level. In this scenario, Ponting’s presence is vital, as he has demonstrated twice during this series, in partnership with his skipper.

A mammoth stand

At the SCG, Ponting and Clarke came together at 37/3 and put on 288. Here, their partnership began at 84 for three and realised 386, the fourth highest for any wicket in Australia’s history, and the highest not involving Don Bradman.

Clarke got to his double hundred before Ponting and was the first to depart, bowled just after lunch by a full delivery from Umesh Yadav that came back a hint and ricocheted off his pads. Hussey was then run out brilliantly by Gautam Gambhir at silly point who leaned across to his right, plucked a defensive shot out of the air and threw down the stumps in one blurry motion.

Ponting and Peter Siddle were out soon after, but an unbroken 71-run stand between Brad Haddin and Ryan Harris took Australia past 600, at which point Clarke declared.