Australia Captain Ricky Ponting remained bullish on his team's prospects at the World Cup but summarily dismissed the idea of any country being the front-runner to win the tournament.
“I don't know who the favourite is and I don't really care,” he said, addressing the media a day after the side's arrival in Bangalore.
“I don't know if there's ever such a thing. At the last World Cup, there was a fair bit of negativity about our team. We had lost the CB series in Australia, then went to New Zealand and lost the series three nil. But we know what happened at the World Cup.”
The 36-year old, however, called India and South Africa “the standout teams” while noting that Sri Lanka, Pakistan, New Zealand, and England too were capable sides.
LENGTH OF TOURNAMENT
Ponting refused to be drawn into criticisms of the length of the tournament. “We've known that [it is long] for a while now. That is international sport these days, unfortunately.
“We're carrying a few guys who are a little bit stiff and sore. So it should be a good thing for us to have some extra time between games.”
While admitting that injuries had affected the squad, Ponting felt it was still capable of coming good. “We have had a couple of big setbacks with Mike Hussey and Nathan Hauritz both being ruled out.
“Hussey's is a big loss to our setup; there's no doubt about it. His experience and his knowledge of the game in tournaments like this are almost second to none. But his brother [David Hussey] gets a really good opportunity. He has played well in the last series at home.”
“Krejza has done well in the past in India, albeit in Test cricket,” he said, reflecting on the abilities of the bowlers at his disposal. “He has performed well for Tasmania in domestic cricket this year. He can be a real match-winning bowler.
DEFENSIVE-MINDED
“Brett Lee has been able to turn himself into a more defensive-minded bowler with his changes of pace and a bit more nous. Shaun Tait is probably not his absolute best yet but he will work his way up there. I just want to let him go; let him run in, bowl fast, and take wickets.
“Mitchell Johnson, at his best, doesn't go for a lot of runs and takes wickets. Doug Bollinger has proven that he is as good as anyone else in the world, with the white or the red ball.
“Hastings impressed at different times in Australia. Michael Clarke may be called on for a few overs as well. You put David Hussey and Steve Smith on top of that and we have a lot of options.”
Ponting revealed that he had made progress on his own injury. “My finger is going on pretty well,” he said. “I have been able to do some batting in the last couple of weeks which has been nice. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to do some batting today and tomorrow and be able to play the two practice games against India and South Africa.”
When asked by reporters to comment on this being Sachin Tendulkar's last World Cup, the Tasmanian had this to say: “It will probably be my last as well. I have always enjoyed the challenge of playing against Sachin and the Indian team. I'm sure he wants to be part of the World Cup winning side, but hopefully he's not.”
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