The former Australian cricket captain, Ricky Ponting, will join the Australian team as an interim assistant coach for their upcoming T20 International series against Sri Lanka.
Ponting will work alongside the already-appointed interim head coach Justin Langer and interim assistant coach Jason Gillespie during the three matches in Melbourne, Geelong and Adelaide next month.
Former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The trio have been brought in with the core of the existing Australia coaching team set to be in India ahead of a four-match Test series.
Ponting has extensive experience of the shortest form of the game, captaining his country in the first ever international T20 against New Zealand in 2005, and then leading the side in the first two editions of the ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 and 2009.
Ricky Ponting said he is pleased to be back with the team.
"I always said when I retired that I wanted to get back involved and what better way to do it than alongside a couple of my best mates in cricket, Justin Langer and Jason Gillespie," Ponting said.
"We have some incredible Twenty20 talent in this country and I can't wait to work with JL (Langer), Dizzy (Gillespie) and those selected to have a real crack at doing special for Australia's Twenty20 International ambitions."
Ponting scored more than 27,000 international runs during a decorated international career that included playing in three ICC Cricket World Cup-winning sides in 1999, 2003 and 2007, the last two as captain in unbeaten campaigns.
