Usually loathe to take a rest while his team-mates do battle, Ricky Ponting is now admitting he needs a break after his team's hectic workload.
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The Australian captain will get his much-needed break when he will miss his team's one-day series against Pakistan in the UAE after tonight's last ODI against South Africa in Johannesburg.
Ponting's deputy Michael Clarke will lead the side in the desert in the series starting next Wednesday.
Ponting said Clarke would gain leadership experience.
"'Pup' (Clarke) is learning all the time about the role and the different things that come with the role. For him to get that added experience as well will hold him in good stead down the track.
"I don't worry about it," said Ponting, who will also miss the IPL and be back for the Twenty20 World Cup in England in June and the Ashes series that follows.
"I don't worry about it. If I felt that I could go and play well, then I'd be going. But right at the moment I feel like I need to get away and have a bit of a break, so that's the way it is."
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