Introduced to cricket by father Graeme and uncle Greg Campbell who played Test cricket for Australia in 1989 and 1990, Ponting played for the Mowbray Under–13s team at the age of 11. As for his early biography, in January 1986, he took part in the five-day annual Northern Tasmania junior cricket competition. After leaving school at the end of year 10 in 1990, he began work as a groundsman at Scotch Oakburn College, a private school in Launceston. With the help of the Northern Tasmanian Cricket Association, Ponting attended a fortnight's training at the Australian Institute of Sport's Cricket Academy in Adelaide. Playing five games for Tasmania for the 1992 Under–19 carnival, Ponting scored 350 runs.

Ponting's domestic performances were rewarded when he was selected for the Australian ODI team to play in all the matches in the New Zealand Centenary quadrangular tournament. He plays all the shots with a full flourish of the bat - the cover drive and the pull are particularly productive methods - and knows only to attack. His breathtaking, dead-eye fielding is a force in the game by itself. Ponting is Australia’s leading run scorer in Tests with 13,378, as well as in ODI cricket with 13,704.

After an unsuccessful World Cup campaign in 2011, Ponting quit both the ODI and Test captaincy, but still continues to be the nucleus of the Australian line up. He has scored centuries (100 or more runs) on 41 occasions in Test cricket and 30 times in One Day International (ODI) matches, both of which are Australian records. In Test matches, Ponting has scored hundreds against all Test playing countries. He is third in the list of Test century-makers. He was considered to be one of the best players in the world in fielding. His good eye and accurate throws often saw him run batsmen out with direct hits. However, several times he was criticized by fans and journalists for cheating.

On Australia Day he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia for services to cricket and, through the Ponting Foundation, the community. A few months later on 29 November 2012 Ponting announced that he would file for retirement from Test cricket after the WACA test against South Africa.

In June 2002 Ponting married his long-time girlfriend, law student Rianna Jennifer Cantor. His wife is thought to be the reason for his increased maturity. The couple has big and lovely family. Their daughter Emmy Charlotte was born in Sydney on 26 July 2008. Second daughter Matisse Ellie was born in the same city on 8 September 2011. Third child, and their first son, Fletcher William was born in Melbourne on 24 September 2014. Having an estimated net worth of $65 million, Ponting is considered to be the most uncompromising player of his generation, grew into Australia's most successful run-maker in the Australia’s overall ratings.