Will Pucovski impressed Ricky Ponting at the age of 10 or 11 with his sound technique.
Australian opener Will Pucovski made his Test debut in the New Year's Test at Sydney against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting had identified his talent more than a decade ago and liked what he say from the debutant on Day 1 of the third Test.
Pucovski scored a half-century in his debut innings and got out on 62 after putting Australia in a comfortable position at 106/2. The official Twitter handle of the cricket section of Channel 7, '7Cricket' posted a video of Ricky Ponting talking about the first time he saw Will Pucovski bat.
In the video posted by 7Cricket, Ricky Ponting said, "(Looking at the picture above on this page) That is him, believe it or not. That is Will Pucovski at about 10 or 11 years of age. I was living in Sydney at the time. I got a phone call and was asked to look at this young talent we have in from Victoria."
"We got him into the nets and the first ball I put in the bowling machine he absolutely creamed through the covers, and I thought he might be something special one day," he reminisced.
Here is the video:
A very young Will Pucovski with Ricky Ponting back in the day ???? pic.twitter.com/pzFnDzQBJM
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) January 7, 2021
After Pucovski got out, Ponting appreciated the knock on his Twitter handle saying, "Very impressed with Will Pucovski's innings today. To look the part at Test level on debut is a promising sign and rapt for him to break through after the setbacks he's had along the way. #AUSvIND"
Very impressed with Will Pucovski's innings today. To look the part at Test level on debut is a promising sign and rapt for him to break through after the setbacks he's had along the way. #AUSvIND
— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) January 7, 2021