Michael Clarke glad that Ricky Ponting and Australian team accept him as a captain

Michael Clarke said that he was happy with the way the former skipper Ricky Ponting and other team-mates accepted him as captain during the recently concluded One-Day tour of Bangladesh.

The tour was Ponting’s first international series under another captain in seven years. During his tenure, he led his side to two consecutive World Cup wins and in his third mega event campaign as a captain, he failed to clinch the title. In the tournament, the Aussies faced an ouster at the hands of India during the quarter-final stage.  As a result, the veteran stepped down from the post, and his deputy Clarke took over the responsibility of the captaincy.

In Clarke’s view, Ponting has still much to offer the Australian team with his batting and experience. The newly appointed skipper also said that Ponting handed over the post to him with a large heart.

"Both of us spoke openly daily, we enjoyed it and I certainly see Ricky playing a big part not only in my captaincy, but the other guys in the team and their development," Clarke said.

Clarke also stated that Ponting did not have the stress of leading the team on his shoulders and can fully concentrate on his batting and helping his team-mates. He has had significant performances in the three-match one-day series against Bangladesh. After 30 years, Ponting is the first Australian skipper, who has continued playing even after standing down from the captaincy.

The Bangladesh series was Clarke’s first as a full-time captain, where he led his side to 3-0 victory over Bangladesh. Almost all the players proved productive under Clarke’s leadership and gave useful performances.

Clarke had earlier led the Australian team 43 times in all formats of cricket, before taking the full-time responsibility as captain. The 30-year-old said that he did not feel any risk at consulting Ponting during matches.

"You're always asking other players for ideas and what their thoughts are on the field. He was there in Bangladesh when I needed him,” said Clarke.

Clarke said that he advised his team-mates to feel free to ask anything or to give ideas in favour of the team. After the Bangladesh tour’s success, the skipper said that he wanted to use the long off-season break to make the Australian team mentally and physically prepared so that they could turn out to be a top ranked team. He also added that he will utilise this time in evaluating his own and the team’s performance for the past 12 months. He also showed his interest in giving ideas to Cricket Australian in their review, which was planned in the wake of the 2010 Ashes defeat.

The Australian team will tour Sri Lanka in August, which includes One-Day matches as well as Tests.