Ricky Ponting has been voted Player of the Decade by an overwhelming majority by a jury comprising former and current players and cricket writers.
Ponting got 60 points (a first-place vote fetched three points, a second place two, and third place one), 23 more than second-placed Jacques Kallis. Adam Gilchrist was ranked third (29 points), while positions four to seven went to Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne.
Ponting scored more runs and centuries in both forms of the game than any other batsman in the decade, and he was the only one to go past the 9000-mark in both Tests and ODIs. In 107 Tests between 2000 and 2009, he scored 9458 runs at 58.38, and 32 of his 38 centuries. Ponting and Kallis, along with Mohammad Yousuf, were the only batsmen to average more than 58 in Tests in the decade.
The Top 10
Ricky Ponting 60 points (13 No. 1s, 6 No. 2s, 9 No. 3s)
Jacques Kallis 37 (5, 9, 4)
Adam Gilchrist 29 (7, 3, 2)
Muttiah Muralitharan 27 (3, 5,8)
Glenn McGrath 24 (3, 5, 5)
Sachin Tendulkar 23.5 (3, 5, 4.5)
Shane Warne 20.5 (3. 5. 1.5)
Brian Lara 3 (1, 0, 0)
Rahul Dravid 2 (0, 0, 2)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul 1 (0, 0, 1)