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Ponting decides to give IPL a miss

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, has decided to skip the 2009 season of the IPL because of his country's packed international schedule

Cricinfo staff
19-Feb-2009

Ricky Ponting won't be playing in India this summer © Getty Images
 
Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, has decided to skip the 2009 season of the IPL because of his country's packed international schedule. Ponting felt he wouldn't be able to give his all for his country if he used his two-week break from national duty to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
"My country comes first and there was no way I could give my all for Australia if I used the only two-week break we have to go and play in India," Ponting wrote in his column in the Australian. "I have been talking with my team, the Kolkata Knight Riders, for a month or two now and in the end my only choice was to withdraw from the 2009 competition, but I will most certainly be back for 2010 when I hope to be able to make a much greater contribution. The franchise has been fantastic about the whole thing and I want to thank them for their understanding."
Australia are currently in South Africa where they are scheduled to play three Tests, two Twenty20 internationals and five ODIs. This series comes soon after the end of the Australian summer, during which the team played home Test and ODI series against South Africa and New Zealand. The Australian selectors wanted Ponting to take a break during the five-ODI series against New Zealand but he returned to the squad after Australia conceded a 2-0 lead to the visitors.
"As everybody is aware, I could not really take a break through the Australian summer," Ponting wrote. "However, I have to say that I had been talking with my manager about not playing the IPL well before any issues came up about me having a break, or, as it turned out, not having a break, during the one-day series against New Zealand.
"Part of the reason I decided to withdraw from the IPL is that Twenty20 is such a physically demanding game and you have to be at your best to play the game and I want to be at my best for the [Twenty20] World Cup. "
After the tour of South Africa ends in April, Australia are scheduled to play an ODI series against Pakistan, following which is the two-week gap when Australia's players are expected to be available for the IPL. However, the itinerary is packed after the break with the ICC World Twenty20 in England followed by the Ashes, ODIs in England, a bilateral series in India, a Test series against Pakistan and the Australian summer.
Joy Bhattacharya, Kolkata's team director, confirmed the franchise will seek a replacement. "We are looking for a replacement and are bargaining hard with two or three players already. We are looking for a batsman who will be an able replacement," he told Cricinfo. "The rules for a replacement says that if for any reason a player is unavailable for the entire season, only then a player from the auction list [the original auction list of 110-odd] can be picked."
Ponting is the third high-profile Australian to miss the 2009 season of the IPL after fast bowler Mitchell Johnson and vice-captain Michael Clarke, both of whom did not take part in the inaugural season either.