RICKY Ponting will join Australia as an assistant coach for their T20 series against Sri Lanka, teaming up with former team mates Justin Langer and Jason Gillespie.
Langer will lead the side as interim head coach for the three-match series next month, with Gillespie as assistant.
Former Australian captain Ponting, 42, will be an assistant coach with the trio standing in for the usual coaching staff led by Darren Lehmann, as the series clashes with the Baggy Greens Test squad’s tour of India.
Ponting said: “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.
“We have some incredible Twenty20 talent in this country and I can’t wait to work with JL, Dizzy and those selected to have a real crack at doing special for Australia’s Twenty20 International ambitions.”
Ponting scored more than 27,000 runs in his international career and was a part of three World Cup-winning squads, captaining the side to the trophy in 2003 and 2007.
Australia will face Sri Lanka in Melbourne on February 17, Geelong on February 20 and Adelaide on February 22, with the Test series in India beginning on February 23.
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