Ricky Ponting worried about the load on skipper Steven Smith

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting expressed his concerns over current Aussie skipper Steven Smith captaining the Rising Pune Supergiant squad. Ponting was worried that the month-long tournament and the intense workload that the likes of Smith and Warner will have to undergo, would affect their performance in the upcoming Champions Trophy.

Following a disappointing 2016 season, the Rising Pune Supergiant management decided to appoint the captaincy to Steven Smith. The Supergiant setup had no success under skipper MS Dhoni last year, and Smith was handed the reins to turn the team’s fortunes around.

Steven Smith is currently going through a purple patch in his career. He’s been successful with the bat in all formats of the game. Smith led his side to victory in the final of the 2015 world cup. He was also the leading run-scorer in the recently concluded Test series against India. Against an aggressive Indian side, Smith’s captaincy was outstanding as he marshaled his troops intelligently in what turned out to be a gripping Test series.

However, Ponting, who is currently with the Mumbai Indians coaching staff, was uncertain about the positives of Smith leading RPS. “I’m not so sure. Knowing how taxing the captaincy can be, to be captain of three teams for Australia is hard enough. And when you’ve got another couple of months of captaincy and responsibility on top of that, it’s actually quite interesting to see how that will all play out,” Ponting told cricket.com.au.

Similarly, Australian opener David Warner will be at the helm for defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad. Warner, who’s struggled to find form against India in the Test series, will look to make the IPL count and score big runs for his side.

“They’ll get themselves up and ready (for the IPL). The worry they might have is post that with a Champions Trophy around the corner. We know how exciting the IPL can be, there’s guaranteed to be some sort of let down on the other end. So it’ll be interesting to see what they’ll bring come early June,” Ponting added.

With the extravagant T20 tournament ending on May 21, the two Aussies will have very little time to prepare themselves for the Champions Trophy which begins on June 1. Australia will clash against 2015 world cup runners-up New Zealand on June 2 for their first match of the mega-event.