Ponting wants to lead Aussies for Bangladesh tour

Tags: Australia tour of Bangladesh - 2011, Ricky Thomas Ponting, Australia, Bangladesh, Team Captain

Published on: Mar 26, 2011

AUSTRALIAN captain Ricky Ponting is already looking beyond the World Cup and has no intention of resting for next month's tour of Bangladesh.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting is already looking beyond the World Cup and has no intention of resting for next month's tour of Bangladesh.

The 36-year-old missed the fifth Test of Australia's ill-fated Ashes campaign in January in Sydney and also sat out the one-day series against England because of a broken finger.

Battling for runs (76 runs at 25.33) in Australia's opening four matches of the World Cup, Ponting was keen to get a long innings under his belt against minnows Canada in Bangalore overnight.

Test cricket's second-leading run-scorer suffered a lean Ashes campaign, averaging 16.14.

With former players calling for Ponting's 29-year-old deputy Michael Clarke to take over as captain in the near future, the Tasmanian says he's keen to kick on and is refreshed by his injury lay-off.

"No, I'm going (to Bangladesh). I have to keep playing," Ponting said. "I've missed enough cricket the last couple of years.

"I've been rested from a few one-day tournaments and missed four or five weeks of the summer this year.

"I've got to keep playing. I feel like I need some continuity with my cricket, I haven't had that (during) the last 12 months especially.

"My finger is good now, it's a whole lot better than it was at the start of the tournament.

"I'll keep playing and see how many I can play and play well in them more importantly."

Ponting's men are due to arrive in Bangladesh on April 4, two days after the World Cup final is scheduled for Mumbai.

The world champions will play three one-day internationals on April 9, 11 and 13.

Australia's first tour of the South Asian nation since 2006 was due to include two Test matches, but these were cancelled by mutual agreement of the two boards.

The shortened tour allows players from both nations to head to the lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament, which runs from April 8 to May 28.

Ponting and Clarke have retired from T20 Internationals and don't play in the IPL.

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