BANGALORE – Australia captain Ricky Ponting is relishing the opportunity of another batting duel with India’s Sachin Tendulkar in what will probably be their last World Cup. Ponting, 36, the tournament’s second most prolific batsman behind Tendulkar, said he had always enjoyed playing against the world’s leading runs scorer in test and one-day cricket.
“There is no bigger stage than a World Cup for all of us to stand up and perform well,” Ponting told a news conference on Friday. “I am sure Sachin wants to have a good tournament. I am sure he wants to be a part of the World Cup-winning side, but hopefully he is not.”
“It probably will be Sachin’s last World Cup and probably my last World Cup as well. I guess we have been lucky over the years to play a lot of cricket against each other. “I have always enjoyed the chance of playing against Sachin and playing against the Indian team, especially under these conditions here. “So, nothing will change over the next few weeks. We will enjoy and see who comes out on the top.”
Ponting, who led Australia to victory in the last two tournaments, said he felt there was no outright favourite for the Feb. 19-April 2 tournament in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. “There are a number of very good cricket teams out there at the moment,” he said.
