To suggest anyone eclipses Ricky Ponting or Steve Waugh in the pantheon of Australian cricket leadership usually gets you laughed out of the room. Ponting commanded a golden generation. Waugh forged the “invincibles.” Yet, looking at the cold, hard silverware, Pat Cummins has actually surpassed them both. He has not merely captained a side. He has defined an era of ruthlessness masked by a smile.
Ponting took over a Ferrari. However, Cummins had to rebuild the engine of a crashed vehicle after the cultural disaster of 2018. His leadership forces us to rethink what “Greatest of All Time” really means. He wins games while steaming in to bowl 145km/h thunderbolts, which is a physical load that neither Waugh nor Ponting ever had to carry.
Breaking Down the Numbers under Pat Cummins
Consider the raw numbers, which paint a startling picture. As of late 2025, Pat Cummins holds an ODI win percentage near 76.47%. That number edges out Ponting’s 76.14% and leaves Waugh’s 63.2% in the dust. Critics talk about sample size, but the trophies shut down that argument.
Cummins grabbed the World Test Championship mace, a prize the old legends never had the chance to win. He also silenced 100,000 screaming fans in Ahmedabad to lift the 2023 ODI World Cup. He does not just show up; he leads the charge. He takes massive wickets in finals, something no batting captain can claim.
Waugh’s 72% Test win ratio is still the high-water mark, but look at the context. Cummins keeps the Ashes with ease, including the 2025/26 dominance. He also beat India in the global finals. Ponting lost the Ashes three times, but Cummins won’t let the urn go. On top of that, he pulled off the “holy trinity,” holding the WTC title, the ODI World Cup, and the Ashes all at once.
The Burden of the Ball
The difficulty level is what really sets him apart. Captaining from mid-off lets you rest your brain. Captaining from the top of your mark with burning lungs takes a special kind of talent. Pat Cummins makes bowling changes while gasping for air. He sets the field while fighting his own exhaustion.
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Ponting had Warne and McGrath on autopilot. Cummins has to handle the egos and workloads of Starc and Hazlewood while being the team’s main weapon himself. Pat Cummins has brought home a trophy haul that matches the 2000s glory days. However, the 32-year-old did it with a squad he built from scratch, not one he was handed. The “Captain Planet” nickname isn’t a joke anymore. It’s the title of Australia’s greatest-ever skipper.
