CRICKET WORLD CUP QUARTER-FINALS:RICKY PONTING leads Australia into today's last-eight tie with India adamant he is not finished as an international cricketer.

A poor year for the captain, which has seen him lose form and the Ashes urn for a third time, has not got any better on the sub-continent, with his performances not mirroring those of his team-mates.

That has led to talk that the 36-year-old Tasmanian will call time on his career after the World Cup, but he insists he is far from finished. “I don’t see the finish line, I want to keep playing both forms of the game as long as I think I can contribute,” said Ponting, his country’s all-time leading run-scorer in ODIs.

“Nothing’s changed for me in the past 12 months. I’ve said all along, every time I’ve been asked about retirement, I’m enjoying my cricket as much as ever.

“I’ve never, ever thought about retirement or where the finish line might be. I’ve been trying to prepare myself as best I can as a player and lead the side as well as possible. For some reason, these retirement things keep popping up all the time.”

Australia, the three-time defending champions, hold the better head-to-head record out of the two, having won 61 of their 104 meetings, while they have also won seven out of nine clashes in the World Cup.

Mike Hussey is likely to keep his place in the Australia side ahead of brother David, while India hope to welcome Virender Sehwag back after a knee injury.

Ashish Nehra will definitely return, though, meaning Sehwag is the host nation‘s only fitness doubt.

“We are taking a call (on Sehwag) in the evening or maybe tomorrow morning before the start of the game,” captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.

Quarter-finals

Today

India v Australia, Ahmedabad

Tomorrow

South Africa v New Zealand, Dhaka

Saturday

Sri Lanka v England, Colombo