“I’ll be surprised...”- Ricky Ponting makes his pick for Australia’s next ODI captain

Aaron Finch retired from ODIs after Zimbabwe series vacating the post of captain in that format.

The Australian ODI team is looking for a new captain as earlier this month, Aaron Finch decided to retire from the ODI format and he bid farewell from the 50-over game after playing a three-match series against New Zealand.

His retirement means that Australia is now looking for a new ODI captain and there are many contenders for the spot.

Pat Cummins is currently the Test captain, while Finch will lead Australia in T20Is including the T20 World Cup 2022 at home. Steve Smith was handed the Test vice-captaincy, while Alex Carey led Australia when Finch was injured during the West Indies tour.

Also in contention is David Warner, who said that he wanted to have a word with Cricket Australia about the leadership ban imposed on him in the aftermath of the 2018 Cape Town Test sandpaper gate scandal.

Now former skipper Ricky Ponting made his pick for the vacant spot and chose Pat Cummins to take over the reins of the ODI team as well.

IND v AUS 2022: ‘Great to see him get his chance”- Pat Cummins excited for 'X-factor' Tim David’s Australia debut

"I think it'll be Pat Cummins, to be honest. I know he doesn't play all the ODIs for obvious reasons, because his workload in Test cricket has been, like all the fast bowlers, very high in the last few years. I know they are very conscious of making sure that they've got Cummins, (Josh) Hazlewood and (Mitchell) Starc a 100 percent fit and healthy for the big Test series to come around. But look, I'll be surprised if it wasn't Pat Cummins,” Ponting said on ICC Review.

Ponting talked about the chances of Steve Smith and David Warner who were at the center of the ball-tampering scandal in 2018.

"I'm just basing this on what's happened with Steve Smith - he is now the Test vice-captain again, having been the captain and really at the centre of the whole controversy in Cape Town. He is now the Test vice-captain, which means obviously that if Pat Cummins ever misses a Test, then Steve Smith is going to be the captain of Australia again in Test match cricket.

IND v AUS 2022: “You'd be brave man to write off Virat at any stage,” Finch hails 'all-time great' Kohli for his 71st ton

So, if that's the case, and all being even and reasonably fair, then I think it would be OK, as far as I'm concerned, for David Warner to have his name (in the ring). Not saying that they have to make him captain, but he should be able to be in the conversation,” Ponting said.  

When asked about the retirement of Finch, Ponting said: "I wasn't surprised actually. I sort of personally felt that he was probably one game away or one failure away from getting dropped anyway. That's how bad his last 12 months have been in one-day international cricket."

"I think it was the right time. I actually thought it was really noble, what he said as well, that stepping down when he did, it gives the next captain a reasonable time leading in to get themselves and his team ready for the next World Cup," he added.

Australia will be clashing with India in the first of the three T20Is in Mohali on September 20^th.

(ICC inputs)