"Would I have him in the squad?"- Ricky Ponting makes massive statement about Steve Smith's T20 World Cup 2024 spot

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has given his opinion on whether star batter Steve Smith should be a part of Australia's T20 World Cup 2024 squad that will travel to the West Indies and the USA in June.

Ponting shed light on how sporadic the chances have been for Smith in the shortest format of late. He believes it's an indication that his spot in the playing XI is not certain. The former cricketer said that while he would have Smith in his squad, the latter wouldn't feature in his XI.

Speaking on The ICC Review, here's what Ricky Ponting had to say about Steve Smith:

"You love having guys like him around because of the experience and the calming influence that you can have around a team during a World Cup. I think he opened the batting in a couple of those games (against New Zealand), but not all of those games and they're sort of spreading the load around a little bit trying to find their right combination, but would I have him in the squad? I think I'd have him in the squad, but he wouldn't be in my starting XI."

Ever since the previous edition of the T20 World Cup in 2022, Smith has played just four T20Is for Australia in which he has scored 86 runs at an average of 21.5 and a strike rate of 128.4.

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Ricky Ponting backs Mitchell Marsh as Australia's T20I captain

Ricky Ponting also opined that all-rounder Mitchell Marsh should lead Australia in the T20 World Cup 2024. He led the Aussies in their recent T20I bouts against West Indies and New Zealand, and Ponting feels it is just a matter of time before Australia make it official.

On this, he said:

"He's (Marsh) certainly a leader of men, which hasn't only been just the last few months. I remember, five or six years ago when Justin Langer took over as the coach of the Australian team, he actually named Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head as joint vice-captains of the Test team. So leadership has always been in the back of the selectors' minds as far as Mitchell Marsh is concerned."

Having won the T20 World Cup in 2021, Australia couldn't even make it to the semifinals in the 2022 edition on their home turf. They will be keen to try and go all the way to the summit in the Caribbean and the USA this time.