The Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has pulled out of a lucrative two-week stint in the Indian Premier League in May, preferring to stay fresh for the Ashes and the ICC World Twenty20 tournament.
Ponting, who is in South Africa with the Australian team, says spending a two-week break with his wife Rianna and baby daughter Emmy was also a key factor.
Ponting has turned his back on an estimated $400,000 for this year's IPL but does intend to turn out for the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2010.
