Ricky Ponting admitted his teammates were rattled by reports of turmoil in Pakistan but maintained that they have not lost focus of the task at hand -- beating India.
SYDNEY: Australian skipper Ricky Ponting on Tuesday admitted his teammates were rattled by reports of turmoil in Pakistan but maintained that the world champions have not lost focus of the task at hand -- beating India in the ongoing Test series.
"No doubt sitting back and watching the events of last week in the change rooms probably did create some grave concerns," Ponting said in a pre-match conference ahead of the second Test against India.
"With the tour being so far away, to the players' credit so far, there hasn't been a great deal of talk about it around the rooms," he said.
Pakistan plunged into chaos after former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination last week, leading to security concerns in the Australian team and the Board.
Australia are scheduled to play three Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 match in Pakistan in March.
Ponting said the Australians, for now, were totally focused on India.
"With the tour being so far away, we really just have to be thinking about what we've got on now. It's a big series, this Test series against India."
"If we can keep these things out of our head for as long as we can, it will give us a better chance of playing well," he said.
As far as going to Pakistan in the wake of recent events, Ponting said the players will go by the advice given by Cricket Australia officials.
"It's out of our control for the time being."
"We haven't played a lot of Test cricket against Pakistan in the last few years. It would be nice if that happened. I'd rather be playing cricket than not playing cricket," he said.
Ponting said a delegation of the CA and the Australian Cricketers' Association will tour Pakistan next month to assess the situation.
ACA chief Paul Marsh will meet the Australian team during the second Test against India to discuss the matter.
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