Melbourne, Oct 11 (IANS) Ricky Ponting’s flamboyant maiden hundred on Indian soil led Greg Chappell to foretell that the Aussie skipper will eventually pass Sachin Tendulkar’s record of maximum Test centuries. Ponting’s 123 on the opening day of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Thursday took him to sixth on the list of all-time run scorers with 10,222 in 120 Tests, surpassing India’s Sunil Gavaskar.

Still 1731 behind Brian Lara’s world mark of 11,953 from 131 matches, Ponting’s real contest will ultimately be with 35-year old Indian batting maestro.

Tendulkar went into this Test 77 runs away from Lara’s record, but Chappell is adamant that 33-year-old Ponting will play long enough to pass Tendulkar.

“His record’s going to stand the test of time. He’s now got runs everywhere in style,” Chappell, who is now Australia’s batting coach, was quoted as saying in The Australian Saturday.