Ponting picks India, SA as favourites

Ponting believes India and South Africa are World Cup hot favourites

Ponting picks India, SA as favourites

Ponting believes India and South Africa are World Cup hot favourites

Despite his team's undisputed No 1 ranking in ODIs, three-time defending champions Australia are not the favourites heading into the 2011 edition of the tournament, reckons their skipper Ricky Ponting, who incidentally tips either India or South Africa to go the distance. Ponting is the only player to be part of a final in all of his previous World Cup appearances.

Excited
"I am not sure if we are winning this World Cup," a humble Ponting told reporters yesterday. "We are just excited to be here, have assembled with a great squad. If we play to our potential, and reach the final. I would sit back and start to think what it would mean to win a fourth World Cup. But, I am not looking that far ahead. It's important for the youngsters to stand up and make it count.

"There is no doubt that the Australian cricket team has a pretty good record in the World Cup and bigger events but as I said, we are not thinking about it right now. We have a really good squad and we will be doing everything to the best of our ability," he added.

Ponting said that India and South Africa stand a good chance to clinch the quadrennial event. "Who is the favourite right now, I am not really bothered because a number of teams have the ability to win the Cup. In this sort of a tournament there are a number of teams who can win. India and South Africa are probably the standout teams. They are the powerhouses of international cricket," he said.

The 36-year old conceded that losing Michael Hussey to injury was a big blow. "The sort of experience and knowledge he (Hussey) has is second to none. I will miss having him in and around the team. It's hard to replace someone like him," said Ponting.

The veteran admitted that his old rival Sachin Tendulkar would be looking to win his maiden World Cup: "There's no bigger stage that this, and I am sure Sachin wants to have a good tournament and wants to win this very badly. But hopefully, it's not the case as far as we are concerned."