People still used to believe these 18 year old prank by Indian media
The true fact was that Ponting was so good and was able to judge the Indian bowlers and obviously was able to unleash the maximum out of the innings. But apart from that Kookaburra bat which was used by Ponting regularly had a strip of carbon graphite which provided extra power while hitting the ball.
I've been a regular user of normal Kookaburra in the mid 2005s and obviously these bats were powerful and it was able to change the way we hit the ball. ICC banned the carbon backed bat in 2006 matches and the company behind the bat recreated bats without them later and supplied to the international players.
Indians were unwilling to accept the reality of Ponting gameplay in 2003 WC and started a blunt talk stating that his bat handle had spring lol.
Is this considered cheating though? using spring bat to take advantage, thus scoring more than he should?
I think you just need to reframe your post though. Spring bat was a nonsensical rumor spread by Indian media but the real fact was the usage of carbon graphite bat which provided extra power for the batsman while in contact with the ball. The same kind of graphite bat was used by former Sri lankan opener Jayasuriya as well! Moreover while I was representing my state from 2010s, I used a more expensive bat which costed $100-$150 which was even more powerful than the normal bats used at that time and hence I was able to score better.
I think, I will believe more on this story of yours, a bat with a strip of carbon graphite, with properties that can offer additional strength to the bat.
People sometime like to spread rumour without actually checking the veracity of the gossip.
Up until it will become like a tale in the sports industry. And not fully learning the facts and further spreading the false information.
But in the case of boxing, there were few instances that were really found out as cheaters like Margarito using plaster of paris powder on the wraps.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1302130-boxings-4-most-infamous-cheaters-of-all-time