<p> Australia captain Michael Clarke today accepted that he played a role in the sacking of former skipper Ricky Ponting from the one-day squad as he was a part of the selection panel but remained confident that his friendship with the veteran would remain intact.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The selection panel ended Ponting's one-day international career earlier this week after deciding to build a team for the 2015 World Cup and Clarke said he was part of the decision-making process.<br /><br />"I'm 100 per cent part of the selection panel," admitted Clarke.<br />"That's part now of the captain's job. We've made this decision as a panel. It is tough not having the great Ricky Ponting out there playing for us but that's the decision we've made. Obviously the 2015 World Cup is something we've spoken about as a panel. I'm 100 per cent a part of that," he added.<br /><br />The selection committee had lost patience with the 37-year-old Ponting, who scored just 18 runs from five innings at an average of 3.6 in the ongoing tri-series, featuring India and Sri Lanka.<br /><br />Clarke, however, hoped that his role on the selection panel, which decided to drop Ponting from the Aussie ODI team, would not affect his friendship with the former skipper. <br /><br />"Ricky was captain of the team for a long time and although he wasn't a selector he played a big part in selecting the XI players that took the field," Clarke said.<br />"I remember getting dropped after the Test match in the West Indies and Punter was the one who came and told me I hadn't been selected. He knows it's certainly not personal. I'm very confident our friendship is a lot stronger than that," said Clarke.<br />Ponting and Clarke would take the field together during the Test tour of West Indies in April as the No. 4 and 5 batsmen.<br /><br />Although there has been a lot of debate over whether Ponting should have been given a farewell match, Clarke said there was no reason to think Ponting had played his last game for Australia.<br /><br />"He's going to play a lot more Test cricket I hope. So there's going to be plenty of time for Ricky to play international cricket for Australia," the captain insisted.</p>
<p> Australia captain Michael Clarke today accepted that he played a role in the sacking of former skipper Ricky Ponting from the one-day squad as he was a part of the selection panel but remained confident that his friendship with the veteran would remain intact.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The selection panel ended Ponting's one-day international career earlier this week after deciding to build a team for the 2015 World Cup and Clarke said he was part of the decision-making process.<br /><br />"I'm 100 per cent part of the selection panel," admitted Clarke.<br />"That's part now of the captain's job. We've made this decision as a panel. It is tough not having the great Ricky Ponting out there playing for us but that's the decision we've made. Obviously the 2015 World Cup is something we've spoken about as a panel. I'm 100 per cent a part of that," he added.<br /><br />The selection committee had lost patience with the 37-year-old Ponting, who scored just 18 runs from five innings at an average of 3.6 in the ongoing tri-series, featuring India and Sri Lanka.<br /><br />Clarke, however, hoped that his role on the selection panel, which decided to drop Ponting from the Aussie ODI team, would not affect his friendship with the former skipper. <br /><br />"Ricky was captain of the team for a long time and although he wasn't a selector he played a big part in selecting the XI players that took the field," Clarke said.<br />"I remember getting dropped after the Test match in the West Indies and Punter was the one who came and told me I hadn't been selected. He knows it's certainly not personal. I'm very confident our friendship is a lot stronger than that," said Clarke.<br />Ponting and Clarke would take the field together during the Test tour of West Indies in April as the No. 4 and 5 batsmen.<br /><br />Although there has been a lot of debate over whether Ponting should have been given a farewell match, Clarke said there was no reason to think Ponting had played his last game for Australia.<br /><br />"He's going to play a lot more Test cricket I hope. So there's going to be plenty of time for Ricky to play international cricket for Australia," the captain insisted.</p>