Ricky Ponting is not sure why Australia's selectors did not give Mike Hussey time to prove his fitness.
Australia batsman's World Cup axe takes skipper by surprise
Ricky Ponting has admitted he is not entirely sure why Australia's selectors were not prepared to give injured veteran Mike Hussey more time to prove his fitness ahead of the World Cup.
A devastated Hussey, who had surgery to repair his injured hamstring in January, was on Tuesday replaced by Callum Ferguson in his country's 15-man squad for the one-day showpiece.
The reigning champions took an injured Andrew Symonds to the 2007 World Cup, with the Queenslander missing the opening two matches before returning for the business end of the tournament.
And while Hussey concedes he would have missed for the first two clashes against Zimbabwe and New Zealand, he is adamant he would have been available for the third match against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
"I actually don't know," Ponting said when asked why Hussey was not afforded the same luxury as Symonds.
"I'm not sure if the selectors have answered that question. But I know what the selectors had spoken about and they wanted to have as many fit guys ready to go for the start of the tournament as possible.
"I think the medics weren't entirely sure or convinced when Mike's injury was going to come right.
"So I think just the uncertainty around his recovery time was the main reason that he hasn't been selected."
Fresh
Meanwhile, Ponting admits his injured finger is still sore following surgery five weeks ago, but is confident he can perform at 100 percent throughout the six-week tournament.
The skipper plans to play in both warm-up matches against India and South Africa in Bangalore before leading the side into battle in the tournament opener against Zimbabwe in Ahmedabad on February 24.
"It's fair to say I'm pretty fresh after having a month on the sidelines," the skipper said.
"I'm obviously looking forward to getting back into proper training and more importantly back into international cricket.
"If I've got pain, so what. If it functions fine, then it's 100 percent, that's the way I've always looked at those things.
"All players play with pain, or most of the players play with some sort of pain at different times."
