[1]Australia captain Michael Clarke on Thursday 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.
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.
"I'm 100 per cent part of the selection panel," admitted Clarke.
"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.
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.
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.
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