Ahmedabad, March 22: The Sydney Morning Heral reported on Tuesday that Australian captain Ricky Ponting could be in the final week of his nine-year reign as skipper after it was revealed he is likely to face stiff opposition at boardroom level to retain his job for next month's tour of Bangladesh.
"As Ponting prepares to lead his team against cricket superpowers India in Thursday night's cut-throat World Cup quarter-final in Ahmedabad, it has emerged the 36-year-old faces as big a battle with Australian powerbrokers to hold on to his job", the report said.
The Herald has been told by a senior Cricket Australia official there should at least be a discussion by the board on whether Ponting should lead the side to Bangladesh even if national selectors name the Tasmanian as captain for the tour.
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"We need to be looking at the future," the official said. "It's time for us to make a change."
It's understood vice-captain Michael Clarke's stocks have risen in recent weeks after returning to form late in the home summer and leading his country with distinction during the ODI series against England when Ponting was nursing a broken finger.
Clarke, 29, is also being viewed by CA management as having a strong rapport with younger fans, whom CA is desperate to win over.
Ponting, meanwhile, has lurched from one controversy to another at the World Cup as he battles to find solutions to his own form issues and the team's uninspiring performance at the showpiece tournament.
After being reprimanded for damaging a TV screen with his protector in Australia's first game, Ponting has created headlines for publicly admonishing a junior teammate, Steve Smith, and had his sportsmanship questioned for failing to walk in Saturday's defeat to Pakistan.
"We're waiting for the next thing to blow up," the official said. "We don't go a game without there being some issues with him."
The official, however, said Ponting's position as a player in the team was not in jeopardy should selectors deem him worthy of a game.
Selectors are expected to wait until after Australia's World Cup campaign to name a squad.
Australia do not start their three-game series against Bangladesh until April 9, a week after the World Cup final, but are scheduled to play a tour game on April 7.
Meanwhile, India are looking to capitalise on an out-of-form Ponting on Thursday.
''You can get into the middle order and Ponting is not in great form,'' Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh said. ''If we can get into their weaknesses, we can win the quarter-final. They've won four games at this World Cup. Teams are equal at the moment, it's just who plays better on the day. Australia are a top side, they've won three successive World Cups, but Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden are not there.''
Australia coach Tim Nielsen said his team was not daunted by its assignment. Instead, the pressure was on India to deliver the goods in front of their adoring home fans.
''We've got no fear now, we know we're in the knockout stage,'' he said. ''It's exciting, a mini-grand final in itself. There's some pressure there and if we can start the game well and maybe quieten the crowd that will be in Ahmedabad that will be something that plays on the mind of the Indian team.
''That's what we'll be aiming to do. We know if we play at our best we'll be very competitive and we're looking forward to it. The benefit of playing in India is the fact the media and the public scrutiny will be so great that you'd expect India to have most of the pressure on them."
Australia will again pin their hopes on pace. "We've had success in the past playing fast bowlers here in subcontinental conditions,'' Nielsen said. "We'll be putting a lot of hope that they can impact early especially."
