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Pontng's fate in selectors' hands

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-27 07:57

Captain Ricky Ponting said on Saturday his fate was in the hands of the selectors after Australia's shattering early exit from the World Cup.

Ponting, whose captaincy has been under attack since Australia's Ashes series debacle against England in January, scored a fighting 104 but it was not enough to prevent India from knocking the champions out in Wednesday's quarter-final in Ahmedabad. Australia's greatest Test runscorer has endured a torrid time and a majority of cricket fans, according to newspaper polls, want him to step down as team leader in a rebuilding phase.

Ponting, 36, confirmed in his column in The Australian newspaper Saturday that he has played in his last World Cup and that his immediate playing future was up to the discretion of the national selectors.

"I was asked before the quarter-final and at the media conference immediately after if I was retiring. I am not," Ponting wrote in his column.

"It is my intention to keep playing cricket, I might not be the best judge of what my contribution to Australian cricket is.

"There are a panel of selectors who have that job and I am happy to accept their judgment."

Ponting said his focus now was on what was best for Australian cricket.

AFP