Melbourne, July 4 The dog lover in Ricky Ponting has come to the fore as the former Australia skipper welcomed a puppy in the family and shared the news on social media.
Ponting said they lost a dog some time ago and while the loss is irreparable, they are excited to bring home 'Eloise'.
"Some time ago now our beautiful dog Cleo passed away. It's been a very sad and difficult time for our family, she was the best little companion and we miss her everyday. Today we're ready to bring joy back to our house and we're very excited to welcome Eloise," Ponting said in an Instagram post.
Australia pacer Pat Cummins and India all-rounder Hardik Pandya showered their love on the new family member in the comments section as Ponting shared a photo of the puppy along with the post.
Pandya recently spoke about Ponting's presence during his initial days with Mumbai Ind in the Indian Premier League.
Hardik broke into the MI team in 2015 after catching the eyes of the franchise in a domestic match and was bought for his base price of Rs 10 lakh in the auction.
He has claimed that Ponting did a lot to shape up his career and taught him the nitty-gritty of the game at a very early stage.
"Ricky Ponting was someone who looked after me the best. He looked after me like a child. I used to feel like he was my father figure there," Hardik told Cricbuzz.
"Ricky taught me so many things, he taught me situations, he taught me mindset, how strong you should be.
"As a new boy in 2015, I used to sit next to the hoardings. Ricky used to sit down with me and speak about the game. (With all these conversations) I started learning quickly."
( With inputs from IANS )
