Kolkata Knight Riders buy out Ponting's IPL contract
Sydney: Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting won't be playing in the Indian Premier League this year after his franchise, the Kolkata Knight Riders, bought out his contract. Ponting had been set to spend about four weeks on the subcontinent
in April, but the Knight Riders opted to pay out the batsman. They will aim to
purchase another international at the auction in Mumbai, scheduled to start later
on Tuesday. Ponting played a handful of games for the franchise in the first IPL
season in 2008, but he chose to sit out of last year's Twenty20 tournament to
spend time with his family in between international commitments. Ponting has
revealed
previously he encountered problems with his Kolkata captain Sourav Ganguly, the
former India skipper, but his manager said on Tuesday the Knight Riders' contract
buy-out was based on player availability. "The Knight Riders wanted international
players who would be available for the entire tournament, but Ricky's only available
for five of 14 games," Ponting's manager James Henderson told AAP.
