Bangalore, Sep 28 (IANS) Australian captain Ricky Ponting, nursing a hamstring injury, has been ruled out of the first One-Day International (ODI) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here Saturday.
“Ricky won’t be available tomorrow, which is bad news for his fans. He will play his part in the series and will be back soon in the team,” said vice-captain Adam Gilchrist.
Gilchrist will lead the team in the first match of the seven-match Future Cup series.
Ponting suffered the injury while batting against Pakistan in a Super Eights match of the recently concluded Twenty20 World Championship and was ruled out of the rest of the tournament.
Gilchrist added that Ponting’s absence wouldn’t be a worry for his side because they have enough players to fill in the vacuum.
“We can rely on the depth in our squad. We have six changes in the team since the World Cup, owing to retirement and injuries, and babies being born. We’ve got a few new faces which a lot of people would have not have seen, and we’re confident about them,” he said.
On the track at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Gilchrist said: “I haven’t had a long hard look at it but it has been a good track in the past. We’ve played Test and ODI cricket here and scored runs, so we’ve got fond memories. Looks like it’ll come through nicely again.”
The stand-in skipper also added that they are geared up for the tough contest ahead.
“There’s plenty of threat, as you saw they knocked us out of the T20 final. They play with great passion and energy and they’ll be relying on all those same qualities in the next seven games. We’re expecting them to come out full of confidence and that’s a great challenge,” said Gilchrist.