By IANS
Sydney : Australia captain Ricky Ponting has been ruled out of the rest of the Twenty20 World Championship following a hamstring injury during his team’s match with Pakistan at the Wanderers in Johannesburg Tuesday. Australia lost the game by six wickets.
Ponting is also in doubt for the seven one-day games against India starting later this month.
“Over the next three to five days we’ll have a much better indication of where it is heading, so we’ll know whether he’ll have to go home or be able to go to India,” team physio Alex Kountouris was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday.
The daily also reported that the Australian skipper was expected to be replaced by all-rounder Shane Watson for the Sri Lanka game.
The injury was also Ponting’s first hamstring strain after more than a decade of international cricket.
“It happened, when he was running between wickets. He just took off for a run and felt it a bit. He was stretching his left leg because he wasn’t sure if there was a problem,” added Kountouris.
Only hours before Ponting broke down, the physio had given Watson the green signal to resume playing after the Queenslander passed his final fitness test by sprinting and bowling for four overs.
Watson’s inclusion would give Australia five frontline bowlers against Sri Lanka – a bonus considering part-timers Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke went for 44 runs from 3.1 overs against Pakistan. They both have been hit for nearly 10 runs an over during the tournament.